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A full slate on Sunday, with a bunch of well pitched games:
-- Indianapolis improved its record to 18-7 by dropping Gwinnett, 5-2. Brooks Brown threw four shutout, one-hit innings in a fill-in start. Ryan Reid followed with three more scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 0.60. He also allowed only one hit, walked two and fanned three. Reid may be establishing himself as one of the many viable bullpen options the Pirates have in AAA, should need arise. Bryan Morris threw a scoreless 9th for his fifth save. Matt Hague went 2-3 with a walk, raising his average to .326. Ivan De Jesus, Jr., went 2-4. The Indians don't have a lot of power, but their lineup today featured five players (Hague, De Jesus, Jordy Mercer, Josh Harrison and Alex Presley) hitting .319 or better.
-- Charlie Morton had a strong rehab start as Altoona topped Erie, 3-1. Morton went six and allowed one run on three hits and a walk, with four strikeouts. He threw 70 pitches, 48 for strikes. Tim Alderson got the last four outs for his first save. The runs came on a two-run double by Oscar Tejeda and a solo HR by Andy Vasquez, his second. Vasquez had two hits.
-- Nick Kingham (pictured) had probably the most dominant start by a Pirates minor leaguer in a while, fanning thirteen in six scoreless innings. He gave up three singles, walked none, and threw only 81 pitches. Kingham has struck out 26 in his last 17 innings, while walking only one. Emmanuel de Leon made his first appearance of the year, getting a game-ending double play with the bases loaded to save the 4-1 Bradenton win over Brevard County. Jose Osuna, Willy Garcia and Taylor Lewis all had two hits, with Garcia hitting a double and Lewis a triple. Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco were the only Marauders to go hitless.
-- West Virginia's bullpen once again failed to hold a lead, giving up a run in the 8th and a walkoff single with two outs in the 9th in a 3-2 loss to Savannah. John Kuchno started and went 4.2 IP, allowing one run on four hits and four walks. He struck out only one. Ryan Hafner threw two scoreless innings and fanned three, but also walked four. Dilson Herrera, Josh Bell and Stetson Allie all went 2-4, with Herrera adding a double.