Morning Rundown: Pirates can't complete the sweep, Hunter Barco makes AA debut
Pirates drop last game of Phillies series. Hunter Barco makes Altoona debut.
The Pittsburgh Pirates could not complete the three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, losing on Sunday 6-0.
Offense was hard to come by for the Pirates, as they mustered just six hits on the day. Marco Gonzales allowed two earned runs on six hits and one walk across 4.2 innings pitched.
Tyler Phillips was fantastic for the Phillies, pitching six shutout innings and allowing just four hits while striking out three.
Philadelphia broke things open in the seventh, scoring three unearned runs to make it 5-0. They would add their final run in the ninth.
The Pirates will now focus on the St. Louis Cardinals, where they start a three-game series on Monday. The Cardinals currently have a two-game lead on Pittsburgh for second place in the NL Central, making this a huge series for the two teams.
Mitch Keller and Paul Skenes are set to pitch first.
Hunter Barco made his Double-A debut on Sunday, pitching three shutout innings and striking out five. He got up to 95 with his fastball and a weakly hit single to center field was the only runner to reach base.
It took Barco just 33 pitches to get through his day, 23 of which went for strikes.
Bubba Chandler followed him up, throwing the last five innings. He last pitched last Saturday in the Futures Game. July 9 was the last time he suited up for Altoona, a game he was limited to just two innings.
It wasn’t his sharpest outing, especially considering the level he’s been pitching at recently.
Indianapolis Indians transferred C Grant Koch to the Development List
Pittsburgh Pirates sign RHP Domingo German to a minor league contract
RHP Domingo German assigned to Indianapolis Indians
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Top Exit Velocity
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 116.1 mph - Lineout
Joey Bart - PIT - 111 mph - Single
Gilberto Celestino - IND - 107.9 mph - Single
Gilberto Celestino - IND - 105.3 mph - Single
Connor Joe - PIT - 104.1 mph - Groundout
Top Pitch Velocity
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 98.3 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 98.1 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 97.9 mph
Dennis Santana - PIT - 97.9 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 97.5 mph
Most Whiffs
Ryan Harbin - GBO - 10
Marco Gonzales - PIT - 10
Bubba Chandler - ALT - 9
Hunter Barco - ALT - 8
Dennis Santana - PIT - 7
Indianapolis Indians - 2 vs Omaha Storm Chasers - 3
Top Hitter - Ji Hwan Bae: 3-3, HR, RBI, 2 BB, R, SB
Top Pitcher - Luis Cessa: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 K
Altoona Curve - 2 vs Somerset Patriots - 3
Top Hitter - Yoyner Fajardo: 1-2, RBI, 2 BB
Top Pitcher - Hunter Barco: 3 IP, H, 5 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 2 vs Hickory Crawdads - 5
Top Hitter - PJ Hilson/Termarr Johnson: 1-4, R, RBI, HR
Top Pitcher - Ryan Harbin: 2 IP, H, 4 K
Bradenton Marauders - 6 vs Tampa Tarpons - 9
Top Hitter - Keiner Delgado: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, HR
Top Pitcher - Landon Tomkins: 1.1 IP, H, BB
-It's the curse of being the most talented man on the field every time he suits up, but yesterday is the definitional example of what we mean when we say the only thing holding O'neil Cruz back is his own lack of discipline. MLB is too damn hard to flat-out take games off and that's clearly what we saw yesterday. But I guess that makes me racist or whatever.
-This is gonna sound more pissy than I mean it to be but it took like two slow weeks to get articles written about Andy Haines ruining Termarr Johnson and yet he's been on absolute fucking fire for TWO MONTHS with barely a peep. The Pirates have a borderline elite hitting prospect and you'd barely know it.
-Okay maybe I meant that to be a LITTLE pissy. ;)
Bound to have a down game, but the Pirates were in it through 6 innings yesterday and only trailing 2-0. After losing almost 3 months to Left Arm soreness, Marco Gonzales threw his second start in July.
He was 0-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 3 Starts/17 IP in April, and in July he is 1-1, 2.79 ERA, in 2 Starts/9.2 IP. Do the Pirates hold onto him to go down the stretch? Remember, he was 61-47, 852 IP in his 7 years with Seattle prior to coming to the Pirates via Atlanta. Seattle is already paying $4.5 mil of his $12 mil 2024 Salary, and picking him up for the stretch run would only cost them another $1.5 mil at most. IMO, he goes to the Mariners (if they show interest), and the return would be CF Jonatan Clase.
Congrats to all of the HOF Entrants, especially Jim Leyland and Todd Helton. Leyland had the Pirates going in the right direction when Ownership/Management of the Pirates decided not to pay to compete. Our family watched Todd Helton from the time we moved from Pittsburgh to Tennessee in 1986. Our oldest son competed against him from the time he played with the Knoxville Stars and then when he played at Central High School. Unfortunately, they were in the same conference as our HS, and their Coach, Bud Bales, was one of the best Coaches I ever saw at any level. Todd was an excellent pitcher growing up and in HS. When they were playing a game they needed to win, Coach Bales had Todd on the mound or in Center Field - not at First Base. Todd was a two sport athlete at Tennessee, before a football injury pushed him more to Baseball.