Jin-De Jhang HRs twice, drives in six

No rookie level teams were in action on Sunday and Bradenton's game was suspended with the Marauders ahead, 2-0, after three innings.

Just a brief comment on Kris Johnson -- He was a supplemental first round pick of the Red Sox, but made little progress over six seasons with them and ended up in independent ball.  After the Pirates signed him, prior to the 2012 season, he made good progress in AA, although not enough to merit a roster spot.  The Pirates saw enough that they re-signed Johnson for this year before he became a minor league free agent.  He made a lot more progress this year and, if the Pirates had an offense worthy of the name, would have earned a win with an outstanding major league debut.  So, kudos to the Pirates' scouting and development staffs.  Hoka hey!

-- Baseball is a funny game.  A month after getting banished to the bullpen, where his control problems continued to grow, Andy Oliver replaced Johnson in the Indianapolis rotation and threw five effective and fairly efficient innings.  Oliver threw 59 of 80 pitches for strikes and allowed just one run.  He gave up five hits and one walk, and struck out five.  Oliver even went 2-2 with a double at the plate.  He left with a 2-1 lead, but the Pirates' two new acquisitions lost the game.  Doug Mathis gave up one run, albeit unearned, in two innings, then Kyle Farnsworth gave up the winning run in the 3-2 loss to Syracuse.  Matt Hague and Jared Goedert each had two hits.

-- Altoona lost to Erie, 3-1.  Casey Sadler gave up only four hits in seven innings, but walked six.  Adalberto Santos had two hits.  Alen Hanson went 0-2 with a walk, Gregory Polanco 1-4.

-- West Virginia beat Hickory, 5-4.  Luis Heredia went four and two-thirds innings.  He gave up four hits and two walks, but one of the hits was a three-run HR.  He fanned six.  Thomas Harlan followed, giving up just an unearned run in three innings and recording all nine outs on strikeouts.  In fact, at one point, three different Power pitchers got a dozen straight outs on whiffs.  Harlan now has 65 strikeouts in 62.1 IP for the Power and has held opponents to a .211 batting average.  Josh Bell went 2-3 with a double and two walks, and Dilson Herrera went 2-2 with a double and one walk.

-- Jamestown beat Auburn, 7-1.  Dovydas Neverauskas gave up one run in five and a third innings.  He allowed three hits and a walk, and fanned two.  Jin-De Jhang (pictured) powered the offense, going 3-4 with two HRs, his fourth and fifth, and six RBIs.  Adam Frazier went 3-4 with three runs, and is now hitting .348.  Elvis Escobar went 1-4 with a double.