Four-hit debut for Reese McGuire

The Pirates did some sorting through position players at the lower levels, which among other things should reduce the number of overage players taking up playing time in the GCL. Utility players Chris Lashmet and Eric Avila were released from Bradenton, and Alen Hanson went on the DL with a leg injury that's not considered serious. D.J. Crumlich and Ashley Ponce were promoted from West Virginia to Bradenton, and Chris Diaz and Jimmy Rider moved up from the GCL to West Virginia.

In Fourth of July action, Bradenton was off but everybody else took the field.

-- Indianapolis and Andrew Oliver shut out Louisville, 4-0. Oliver has a unique ability to raise concerns even when he allows no runs. He went six and two-thirds, allowing four hits and fanning six. He also walked four and threw 105 pitches. Jose Contreras threw an inning and a third, and Vic Black fanned two in a 1-2-3 9th. Among the Not Better Than Brandon Inge Players, Matt Hague went 3-4, and Tony Sanchez and Andrew Lambo each 2-4, and all three had doubles.

-- Yesterday I noted that Altoona finally had most of its lineup together, so today the Curve beat Erie, 15-7. Mel Rojas, Jr., went 3-3 with a double and a walk; Gregory Polanco went 3-5 with a double; and Carlos Paulino went 3-5 with two doubles and four RBIs. Alex Dickerson and Drew Maggi each went 2-5. Eliecer Navarro got the win, allowing three runs in five innings.

-- West Virginia got shut out again, this time by Lexington, 3-0. Jason Creasy took the loss despite allowing just one run over five innings. He gave up six hits and two walks, and struck out two. Josh Bell continues to play roughly every other day, meaning he didn't play today. Dilson Herrera went 1-2 with two walks.

-- Jamestown edged Auburn, 5-4, on a day of debuts. The Jammers did it with just five hits, the big one being a three-run HR by Harold Ramirez, his first. He went 1-3. Three 2013 draftees made their debuts. Adam Frazier played short and went 1-3 with a walk. JaCoby Jones played center and went 0-4 with two strikeouts, although he also had a run and an RBI. Andrew Dennis caught and went 0-4 with two strikeouts. Dovydas Neverauskas gave up three runs, two earned, over five innings. He allowed four hits and a walk, and fanned two. Kevin Kleis, who's been pitching well out of the bullpen, got the last four outs for his second save.

-- The GCL Pirates lost to the Tigers, 11-5, but who cares? Fourteenth overall pick Reese McGuire (pictured) debuted as the DH and went 4-5 with two doubles and three RBIs. Candon Myles went 2-3 with two walks and Luis Urena hit his first HR. Trae Arbet went 0-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Starter Miguel Rosario threw four shutout innings, allowing no hits and a walk, and fanning four. Cristian Santiago followed, though, by allowing eight runs, three earned, on nine hits in an inning and two-thirds. But . . . Reese McGuire!

-- The DSL Pirates2 shut out the Orioles2, 5-0. Edgar Figueroa went 2-5 with a triple and Carlos Munoz went 2-4. Munoz is now hitting .420. Eduardo Vera threw five innings and Richard Mitchell three.

No result was available for the DSL Pirates1.