The roundup of Thursday's action:
-P- Indianapolis dropped a 5-4 decision to Toledo. The Indians tied the game with a run in the top of the 9th on a two-out RBI single by Christian Marrero, who took Alex Presley's spot. Doug Slaten, however, gave up a walk-off HR to the first hitter in the bottom half. The Indians seem to have all their pitchers now on a regime of frequent, low-inning outings, I guess to maintain some flexibility as they get ready for the playoffs and the Pirates juggle their own staff. Jo-Jo Reyes started and went three, allowing two runs. Duke Welker threw two scoreless innings, then Bryan Morris struggled for what seems like the 20th game in a row, allowing two hits and two unearned runs in one inning, although he did fan two. It's probably noteworthy that Morris' name has not come up in the discussions of pitchers under consideration for September. Justin Wilson followed Morris for one inning and fanned the side. Brock Holt went 3-4 with a walk and is now hitting something absurd. Matt Hague went 2-4. Nobody other than Holt, Hague and Marrero, though, had a hit.
-P- Altoona scored five in the 2nd and hung on to beat Akron, 6-4. Kris Johnson started and allowed two unearned runs in five innings. Vic Black gave up a walk and fanned two in the 9th. He now has 85 Ks in 58 IP. Matt Curry and Charlie Cutler each went 2-4.
-P- Bradenton lost to St. Lucie, 5-1. Four of the five runs were unearned, as the Marauders had four errors. Aaron Pribanic, who had a protracted and intermittent rehab in the GCL, pitched an inning and two-thirds and walked four. Carlos Paulino accounted for the only Bradenton run with his 4th HR.
-P- West Virginia split two games with Charleston. The Power lost the continuation of yesterday's game, which was stopped after three innings with no score, by a 7-2 count. The Power had only two hits. Zac Fuesser threw three scoreless innings before the suspension, allowing two hits and a walk, and fanning three. Things got back to normal in the regularly scheduled game, as Alen Hanson reached base all four times up on a double, a triple and two walks, and Gregory Polanco went 2-4 with his 16th HR. Hanson scored three runs and Polanco drove in three. Taylor Lewis added a double and a triple in four ABs. Mike Jefferson allowed just two hits over six innings, as the Power won, 7-1.
-P- State College split a doubleheader with Jamestown. The Spikes won the first game, 4-2. Luis Heredia had a mediocre start, allowing two runs in 4.2 IP on four hits and three walks. He struck out two. Walker Gourley went 2-3 with a triple and a walk. The Spikes lost game two, 2-1. Dalton Friend made his first pro start and gave up two unearned runs in 4.1 IP. He allowed just one hit and three walks, and fanned five. I'm not going to make Friend my sleeper pitching prospect for next year, because I'm almost always wrong about those things, but Friend looks interesting. Eric Wood made his State College debut, going 0-3 with two Ks.
-P- The DSL Pirates1 moved on to the league finals with a 7-6 win over the Mariners, giving them a two-game sweep. The Pirates had to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th on a two-out, RBI single by Pablo Reyes. They fell behind again by two in the 12th, but came back with three runs to win it, with the help of two walks and two hit batsmen. Ulises Montilla had a walk-off single with one out. Starter Christian Henriquez allowed only five hits and no walks in six innings, with six strikeouts, but he gave up three runs. Reyes went 4-5 with a HR and three RBIs. Montilla and Daniel Arribas each went 2-5. The Pirates might have won it a little more easily, but they had five runners thrown out on the bases.