There was plenty of action on Sunday as the Pirates' affiliates begin closing out their seasons, starting with Bradenton. It's too bad the Pirates can't follow suit and cut short their accustomed late-season collapse.
-P- Indianapolis hammered Louisville, 11-6, in a game shortened to eight innings by rain. Hector Luna went 4-5 with a double and his 8th HR, and Jeff Larish went 3-4 with two doubles. Each had three RBIs. Ramon Cabrera made his AAA debut, going 2-5 with a double. Matt Curry, Yamaico Navarro and Dallas McPherson each had two hits, and the latter two each had a double. With the playoffs near, the Indians' lineup looks very different from how it looked just a month or so ago. Today it had three players added in the last few days and only three who began the season in the organization. Phil Irwin started and struggled, allowing five runs, three earned in five innings. Bryan Morris pitched two innings, allowing a run on a hit and a walk, and striking out three.
-P- Altoona broke a 1-1 tie with seven runs in the 7th and beat Erie, 8-1. Ty Waldron started but went only two innings, allowing the one run. Nate Baker followed with five scoreless inning, allowing two hits and two walks, and striking out five. Stefan Welch went 2-5 with two doubles. Jacob Stallings made his AA debut with a pinch-hit single.
-P- Bradenton finished its season with a 3-1 loss to St. Lucie. The Marauders had only two hits, both by Elevys Gonzalez. Casey Sadler started and went five, allowing three runs, one earned.
-P- West Virginia split a doubleheader with Delmarva, although the Power had only four hits in each game. They won game one, 3-2. Robby Rowland allowed two runs, one earned, over six innings. He gave up six hits, walked none and fanned four. Dan Gamache went 2-3 and Gregory Polanco went 1-2 with a triple and a walk. Alen Hanson went 0-2 with a walk. The Power dropped game two, 7-1, as Delmarva scored six in the 3rd inning, four of them unearned, off Zac Fuesser. Polanco went 1-2 with a double and finished the season at .325.
-P- State College suffered yet another bullpen meltdown and lost to Williamsport, 9-6. The Spikes took a 6-3 lead into the 8th, but John Kuchno, who'd pitched well in his first two games, got torched for six runs, five earned. Starter Jason Creasy gave up two runs on five hits and a walk in five innings. He struck out none. Dilson Herrera went 3-4 with a triple and Chris Diaz went 3-5.
-P- The DSL Pirates1 dropped the opener of their best-of-five final series to the Angels, 2-1. The Pirates scored one in the first but didn't score again. Starter Luis Santos gave up the two runs, one of them unearned, in five innings. He allowed five hits and a walk, and fanned six.