Pimentel and Holmes pitch well, Kingham walks six

I'm guessing Pirate fans fall into one of two categories:

(1) I'm not interested in the minors right now, or
(2) I can't possibly get enough baseball right now.

-- Indianapolis eked out a 3-2 win over Syracuse. Stolmy Pimentel continued to pitch well, giving up two runs, one earned, in six and two-thirds innings. He allowed six hits and two walks, and fanned three. The Indians had only six hits, all singles, two of them by Jerry Sands.

-- Altoona dropped a 3-2 decision to Binghamton. Nick Kingham had uncharacteristic control problems, walking six in five innings. He was charged with three runs, two earned, and allowed five hits while striking out three. Alex Dickerson went 2-4, raising his average to .300. More importantly, he's now the minor league version of a made man; his name has surfaced in trade rumors. Mel Rojas, Jr., went 2-3 and Adalberto Santos 2-5 with a double. Alen Hanson made his AA debut, going 0-5 with three strikeouts, most of that against weak pitchers. Gregory Polanco went 1-5.

-- Bradenton got edged by Dunedin, 2-1. Adrian Sampson had a good outing, allowing one run in seven innings on six hits and no walks. He fanned four. Gift Ngoepe and Elias Diaz each had a single and a double. Stetson Allie went 1-4 with two strikeouts. Over his last ten games, he's 6-37 with 15 whiffs.

-- In yet another close game, West Virginia dropped Delmarva, 3-2. Clay Holmes (pictured), who's mostly pitched well over the past month, pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, although he walked four. He fanned five. Dilson Herrera and Josh Bell each went 2-4, with Bell hitting a double.

-- Jamestown beat Staten Island, 5-3. Isaac Sanchez had a strong start, allowing just an unearned run on two hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out eight. Axel Diaz, Justin Topa and Brett McKinney fanned another eight in the last four innings, giving the Jammers 16 on the game. Jeff Roy and Harold Ramirez, batting first and second in the order, drove in all five runs between them with two hits apiece.

-- The GCL Pirates lost to the Phillies, 9-5. Daniel Arribas went 2-3 with two doubles. Arribas seemed like an interesting player going into the season, but got off to a slow start. In July, though, he's hitting 343/439/457. He's a catcher, where competition for playing time is tough now, but he's played other positions as well. Adam Landecker also had two doubles. Austin Meadows went 0-4 to snap a good stretch. Reese McGuire sat out for the second game in a row, so he probably has some minor injury. Neil Kozikowski did well in his second outing, giving up one run in three innings on two hits and no walks. He fanned four.

-- The DSL Pirates1 shut out the Marlins, 7-0, with three pitchers combining on a one-hitter. Starter Miguel Ferreras went five, giving up the hit plus two walks, while fanning six. Tito Polo returned from an injury to go 2-5. Johan De Jesus and Julio De La Cruz each had a double.

-- The DSL Pirates2 also won a blowout, this one 11-0 over the Mets1. Stephen De La Mota went 4-5 with a double, Jose Salazar 3-4 with a double and four RBIs, Yoel Gonzalez 2-4 with his first pro HR, Edgar Figueroa 2-4 with a triple, and Alexis Bastardo 2-4 with a double. Jose Batista threw five innings, giving up five hits and a walk, and fanning five. Hector Garcia got the three-inning save, allowing a hit and a walk, and fanning four.