Morning Rundown: Pirates' bullpen combine for a shutout of the Twins
Seven pitchers combine for shutout of Twins
With Quinn Priester on the injured list, the Pittsburgh Pirates opted for a bullpen game during his scheduled start on Saturday, and it worked perfectly, as they shut out the Minnesota Twins.
Carmen Mlodzinski kicked things off with 1.2 innings of shutout baseball before giving way to Luis Ortiz, who did most of the work.
In 4.1 innings, Ortiz allowed three hits and one walk while striking out three. Justin Bruihl, Hunter Stratton, Colin Holderman, and David Bednar combined the rest of the way to finish things.
Rowdy Tellez had a big day at the plate, going 2-4 with a home run and three runs driven in. Michael A. Taylor also picked up an RBI on the day.
The Pirates will now go for the series sweep on Sunday with Jared Jones on the mound.
It was technically impossible for them to have a perfect record on Saturday, but the Pirates organization came pretty close.
Just the Greensboro Grasshoppers lost on Saturday, and they blew a late lead and eventually needed to put a position player on the mound in a tie game. They lost the game 8-6.
The Pirates, Indianapolis, Altoona, Bradenton, and the FCL team all won their games. In the Dominican, the Gold team won, defeating the Pirates Black squad, which is why, technically, they couldn’t have a perfect record on the day.
But a Pirates’ affiliate won a game in all but one they played on the day.
Not bad.
RHP Darvin Garcia assigned to Greensboro Grasshoppers from Altoona Curve
RHP Garrett McMillan assigned to Greensboro Grasshoppers from Bradenton Marauders
RHP Luis Joseph assigned to DSL Pirates Gold from DSL Pirates Black
DSL Pirates Black placed RHP Yeison Martinez on the 60-day injured list
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Top Exit Velocity
Ke’Bryan Hayes - PIT - 107.7 mph - Single
Andrew McCutchen - PIT - 106.8 mph - Single
Matt Gorski - IND - 107.2 mph - GIDP
Andrew McCutchen - PIT - 106.8 mph - Single
Connor Joe - PIT - 106.6 mph - Groundout
Top Pitch Velocity
David Bednar - PIT - 98.1 mph
David Bednar - PIT - 98.1 mph
David Bednar - PIT - 97.8 mph
David Bednar - PIT - 97.6 mph
David Bednar - PIT - 97.4 mph
Most Whiffs
Sean Sullivan - ALT - 10
Dominic Perachi - GBO - 9
Khristian Curtis - BRD - 8
Scott Randall - BRD - 6
Ryan Harbin - GBO - 5
Jaden Woods - GBO - 5
Drake Fellows - IND - 5
Indianapolis Indians - 4 vs Columbus Clippers - 3
Top Hitter - Jake Lamb: 2-4, R, 2 RBI
Top Pitcher - Ryder Ryan: 1.2 IP, H
Altoona Curve - 4 vs Richmond Flying Squirrels - 3
Top Hitter - Tsung-Che Cheng: 3-5, R, RBI, 2 2B
Top Pitcher - Sean Sullivan: 5.2 IP, 7 H, ER, BB, 6 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 6 vs Jersey Shore BlueClaws - 8
Top Hitter - Josiah Sightler: 2-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR
Top Pitcher - Dominic Perachi: 5 IP, H, BB, 6 K
Bradenton Marauders - 2 vs Clearwater Threshers - 1
Top Hitter - Braylon Bishop: 1-4, R, RBI, HR
Top Pitcher - Scott Randall: 3 IP, 5 K
FCL Pirates - 6 vs FCL Orioles - 1
Top Hitter - Roinny Aguiar: 2-3, R, RBI, 2 SB
Top Pitcher - Carlos Castillo: 4 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, 2 K
DSL Pirates Black - 2 vs DSL Pirates Gold - 10
Top Hitter - Javier Acevedo: 0-1, R, 2 BB
Top Pitcher - Marlon Quintana: 2.1 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 K
DSL Pirates Gold - 10 vs DSL Pirates Black - 2
Top Hitter - Angel Perez: 2-2, 2 2B, 2 BB, 2 RBI
Top Pitcher - Dariel Francia: 3.1 IP, 3 H, BB, 5 K
SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP!
Can’t be overstated the importance of Cruz and Tellez to heat up. Pirates desperately need LH power to come out and play this summer.
If nothing else, the events of the last few days have given me reason for hope.
Let’s Go Bucs!