Morning Rundown: Pirates drop series finale to Blue Jays, rough weekend in Pirates' system
Pirates lose two of three to the Blue Jays, minor league affiliates get swept throughout weekend.
The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped the series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4. Rowdy Tellez drove in all four of the Pirates’ runs Sunday, picking up three hits on the day.
Oneil Cruz also collected a pair of hits and scored twice. The offense, in general, collected 11 hits but went a collective 3-16 with runners in scoring position.
Although it started well, by the time it was all said and done, Quinn Priester ended up with his fifth loss of the season after allowing four runs on eight hits in 4.2 innings pitched.
He left the game in the fifth, replaced by Hunter Stratton, who gave up a double by Daniel Vogelbach that scored a pair of runs, putting the Blue Jays in the lead.
The Pirates will have the day off on Monday before starting a six-game homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins.
The Dominican Summer League starts on Monday. Since the rosters were set so late (Sunday night), we will do a preview later this week. The Pirates will again have two teams playing - the Black and Gold squads.
Bralyn Brazoban—the team’s big addition in the latest international market—was assigned to the DSL Pirates Black team. The year prior—Raymond Mola—was assigned to the Gold team.
Again, we will have a full breakdown of the rosters later this week.
It wasn’t exactly the best weekend down in the Pirates’ system. Between the five affiliates, they didn’t pick up a single win from Friday through Sunday, going a combined 0-14.
They played six games on Saturday, including the FCL and a doubleheader for Bradenton, but they still didn’t pick up a win.
When you add in the major league team, the system went a combined 1-16 from Friday through Sunday.
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Top Exit Velocity
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 117.2 mph - Single
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 111.8 mph - Double
Rowdy Tellez - PIT - 110.5 mph - Lineout
Ji Hwan Bae - PIT - 108.1 - Single
Ke’Bryan Hayes - PIT - 107.4 - Single
Top Pitch Velocity
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 99.8 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 98.8 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 98.5 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 98.3 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 98.2 mph
Most Whiffs
Quinn Priester - PIT - 10
Connor Oliver - BRD - 8
Valentin Linarez - ALT - 6
Scott Randall - BRD - 6
Drake Fellows - IND - 4
Geronimo Franzua - IND - 4
Sean Sullivan - ALT - 4
Indianapolis Indians - 5 vs Omaha Storm Chasers - 8
Top Hitter - Liover Peguero: 2-4, 3 RBI, 2B
Top Pitcher - Ben Heller: IP, BB, K
Altoona Curve - 4 vs Portland Sea Dogs - 10
Top Hitter - Joe Perez: 1-3, 2 RBI
Top Pitcher - Sean Sullivan: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, K
Greensboro Grasshoppers -PPD
Bradenton Marauders - 1 vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels - 2
Top Hitter - Esmerlyn Valdez: 1-3, RBI, BB, 2B
Top Pitcher - Connor Oliver: 3 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K
It’s easy to play MMQB, and in every case is useless. However, this fact won’t stop me from doing a little MMQBing about Shelton’s decision to have Stratton pitch to Vogie yesterday instead of Hernandez. If he’s not going to Hernandez there, then why is he even on the roster?
This is just another in a long line of examples of how Shelton doesn’t give his team the best chance to win. Unfortunately, this is an epidemic in this organization. Starts with Nutting, runs through Cherington, straight on through Shelton, and ends in the hearts of us Pirates fans.
No accountability to be found anywhere!
Somehow, the affiliates going 0-14 over a weekend seems like a thoroughly Cheringtonian factoid.