Matt Morris Report: Elias Diaz, Mel Rojas come up big in 8-6 Indianapolis win

-- Altoona's matchup with Harrisburg was postponed.

-- Indianapolis beat Columbus, 8-6. Indy couldn't do much against lefty Nick Maronde, who's had big control problems in his previous stops but who struck out nine Indianapolis batters while walking one in five innings. Indy's only damage against Maronde came in the fifth, when Gorkys Hernandez tripled and then came home on a groundout. Hernandez didn't triple or homer all last season, but he's done both in the two games I saw this series. Which probably says something about how hard it is to glean useful information from two baseball games.

Former Pirates minor leaguer Dustin Molleken (who's now 30 and still hasn't made the big leagues -- good on him for his persistence) relieved Maronde in the sixth. That inning, Elias Diaz doubled to center and came home on a double by Steve Lombardozzi, who then stole third and came home on Mel Rojas' single, tying the game at three. Rojas then made a nice sliding catch with a man on in the bottom of the inning after Charlie Leesman relieved Volstad.

In the eighth, Elias Diaz, who was starting at DH, broke the tie with a solo homer that just cleared the wall in left center. Indianapolis then loaded the bases with a series of singles, and Alen Hanson (who had looked pretty bad in the previous plate appearances I'd seen) brought them all home with a triple down the line. He then came home on Pedro Florimon's sacrifice fly to make it 8-3.

Anyway, Charlie Leesman, Brad Lincoln and Blake Wood walked ALL THE BATTERS after that (although Wood at least looked impressive, throwing 96-99 MPH fastballs the whole way). That got Columbus back into the game, although Indianapolis managed to hold on, 8-6.

In addition to his homer, Diaz also had a single and double, finishing a triple short of the cycle. Rojas and Lombardozzi also had three hits apiece. Indianapolis pitchers had nine strikeouts and 11 walks, and nobody pitched very well or seemed to know where the ball was going, but all of them were non-prospects. Indy relievers' performance did underscore the fact, though, that the Pirates' bullpen isn't likely to get much help from them.

-- Bradenton came back from a 6-0 deficit to beat Charlotte, 7-6. Erich Weiss went 3-for-3 with a walk and a two-run homer, and Edwin Espinal went 3-for-4 with a solo homer. Steven Brault gave up four runs and Andy Otamendi two before Marauders relievers pitched 7.1 scoreless innings, with Henry Hirsch striking out seven batters and Clario Perez whiffing five.

-- West Virginia lost 10-5 to Kannapolis. None of the Power's pitchers (Alex McRae, Yeudy Garcia and Nick Neumann) had much success, although Jordan Luplow, Taylor Gushue, Michael Suchy and Jeff Roy had two hits apiece. Cole Tucker went 1-for-3 with a double.