Morning Rundown: Pirates comeback and win in extra innings, Indianapolis roster set, roster moves on Opening Day

Pirates come from behind, win in extra innings. Triple-A Indianapolis' roster is announce and the Pirates finalize their roster.

Photo Credit: WTM

The Pittsburgh Pirates chipped and clawed their way back to win their Opening Day matchup in extra-innings against the Miami Marlins 6-5.

Mitch Keller put himself in some bad situations, the defense didn’t help early on, but was able to work around things to keep the game from getting out of hand. He finished the day allowing four earned runs (five total) on seven hits and two walks while striking out three across 5.2 innings pitched.

The offense slowly chipped back, scoring four unanswered runs to eventually win the game. Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run home run in the top of the third, originally tying the game at two.

Edward Olivares hit a pinch-hit home run in his first plate appearance as a Pirates. Oneil Cruz also went deep, as the Pirates continued their home run onslaught after leading all teams in Spring Training.

Six relievers combined to pitch a shutout the rest of the way, which didn’t include David Bednar. Jose Hernandez pitched the final inning and picked up his first career save.

Game two of the four game series will start at 7:10 pm ET, with Martin Perez expected to face AJ Puk.

Top Exit Velocity

1. Bryan Reynolds - 107.5 mph - Home Run

2. Oneil Cruz - 105.5 mph - Home Run

3. Michael A. Taylor - 103.9 mph - Forceout

4. Edward Olivares - 102.4 mph - Home Run

5. Michael A. Taylor - 101.4 mph - Groundout

Top Pitch Velocity

1. Aroldis Chapman - 99.7 mph

2. Luis Ortiz - 99 mph

3. Aroldis Chapman - 98.9 mph

4. Luis Ortiz - 98.4 mph

5. Luis Ortiz - 98.3 mph

Most Whiffs (Whiff%)

1. Mitch Keller - 14 (28%)

2. Ryan Borucki - 5 (45%)

3. Hunter Stratton - 3 (60%)

4. Aroldis Chapman - 1 (17%)

5. Luis Ortiz - 1 (14%)

6. Jose Hernandez - 1 (14%)

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The Indianapolis Indians have released their Opening Day roster for the 2024 Minor League season.

Headlined by Paul Skenes, the roster features five players from the Bucs on Deck Top 25 prospects list we put out during the off-season.

Here’s a look at the roster, with WTM going to do a much deeper breakdown later today.

Pitchers (14)

Cam Alldred

Brady Feigl

JC Flowers

Geronimo Franzua

Brent Honeywell Jr.

Eric Lauer

Kade McClure

Kyle Nicolas

Wily Peralta

Michael Plassmeyer

Quinn Priester

Connor Sadzeck

Colin Selby Paul Skenes

Position Players (14)

Sergio Alcantara

Carter Bins

Gilberto Celestino

Nick Gonzales

Matt Gorski

Grant Koch

Jake Lamb

Billy McKinney

Malcom Nunez

Joshua Palacios

Liover Peguero

Joe Perez

Dustin Peterson

Eli Wilson

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To make their roster official, the Pirates made the following roster moves before the first game of the season.

• Selected the contracts of Hunter Stratton, Jared Jones, and Ryder Ryan

• Designated for Assignment Jackson Wolf, Ali Sanchez, and Canaan Smith Njigba

• They also recalled Jose Hernandez from Triple-A Indianapolis after placing Roansy Contreras on the maternity list.

• Carmen Mlodzinski and Colin Holderman were placed on the 15-day injured list.

• Yasmani Grandal and Ji-Hwan Bae were placed on the 10-day injured list.

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With the minor league season officially getting underway, don’t forget to pick up your copy of the 2024 Pirates Minor League Guide, available now on Amazon.

You get scouting reports on 75 prospects in the Pirates system, including a few names that will be playing this weekend for the Indianapolis Indians and the Pirates (Jared Jones).