Morning Rundown: Pirates' offense explodes, Greensboro one-hitter, Valdez late heroics

Pirates offense puts up 11 runs in Friday victory. Patrick Reilly leads one-hitter for Greensboro, Valdez comes up big late for Bradenton

May 25, 2024

The Pirates’ offense picked up 11 runs on 14 hits—seven of which went for extra bases—as they took game one of their weekend series against the Atlanta Braves.

Connor Joe doubled twice and now has 12 on the season. Nick Gonzales picked up two more hits, and Jared Triolo hit his third home run of 2024. They were among the offensive standouts for the Pirates.

They were backed by Bailey Falter, who pitched 7.1 innings while allowing three earned runs. Luis Ortiz pitched the final 1.2 inning and allowed two more runs but avoided the bullpen meltdown plaguing them the last couple of games.

Mitch Keller and Martin Perez will follow up for the Pirates, who Reynaldo Lopez and Chris Sale will oppose.

Patrick Reilly, Ryan Harbin, and Elijah Birdsong combined to pitch a one-hitter for the Greensboro Grasshoppers, winning 5-0.

There have been times when he has been bitten by the home run ball this season, but Reilly had his best stuff working for him on Friday, striking out seven across his five innings of work.

The walks have continued, issuing three passes this time, but no one picked up any hits off of him.

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Harbin was making his first appearance of the season for Greensboro after pitching in the FCL and Bradenton on rehab assignments.

Nick Cimillo continued his strong month of May, hitting another home run, his fifth overall. Maikol Escotto and Shawn Ross also went deep for the Grasshoppers.

You can never really count the Bradenton Marauders out, especially late in games. Trailing most of the game, Esmerlyn Valdez blasted a three-run, go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth inning and Landon Tomkins closed the door in the ninth to give Bradenton the win.

The home run was his fifth of the season, and he now has 21 RBI.

Michael Kennedy pitched another game without issuing a walk, although he allowed a pair of home runs. He struck out six over six innings, picking up 20 whiffs on the day, including 10 (42% whiff rate) with the fastball.

Shalin Polanco also hit a home run, his fourth, and Omar Alfonzo picked up a pair of hits, threw out a runner trying to steal, and made a nice catch in foul territory.

OF Ewry Espinal assigned to FCL Pirates from Bradenton Marauders
C John Lopez assigned to Bradenton Marauders from FCL Pirates
Greensboro Grasshoppers activated RHP Ryan Harbin from the 7-day injured list
Altoona Curve placed RHP Grant Ford on the 7-day injured list

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