Cannonballs coming: Mitch Keller pitches well in first AA start

The GCL and DSL Pirates don’t play on Sundays. Indianapolis was rained out.

— Mitch Keller (pictured) pitched well in his first AA start against Trenton. Keller gave up two runs over six runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out four and threw 53 of 88 pitches for strikes. The Curve trailed, 2-1, in the top of the ninth, with their only run coming on Jin-De Jhang’s third HR. A pair of singles and a sacrifice fly by Cole Tucker tied the game. Altoona finally lost the game, 4-2, when Cody Dickson gave up a two-run, walkoff HR in the 11th.

Tucker: 1-4
Jhang: 1-5

— Bradenton (61-48) won the first game of its doubleheader with Florida, 5-1. Pedro Vasquez threw five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. Mitchell Tolman went 2-3.

Ke’Bryan Hayes: 1-3
Will Craig: 1-2, 2 BB
Stephen Alemais: 1-3, BB

The Marauders got blanked in the second game, 5-0. Logan Sendelbach came out after two innings and 50 pitches. He gave up four runs.

Ke’Bryan Hayes: 1-3
Will Craig: 1-3, 2B

— West Virginia (52-57) beat Delmarva, 6-2. Eduardo Vera gave up just a run and three hits over seven innings. He walked none and fanned seven. Angel German made his Pirates debut, allowing a run on two hits and two walks in one inning. He struck out two. Arden Pabst and Clark Eagan each went deep, Pabst’s fourth and Eagan’s eighth. Adrian Valerio was 2-4 with a double.

— Morgantown (27-19) edged Batavia, 3-2. Gavin Wallace allowed an unearned run in five innings on three hits. He didn’t walk or strike out anybody. Chris Sharpe went 2-3 with a double and a walk. Jose Barraza hit his second HR.

Bligh Madris: 1-4
Tristan Gray: 1-4
Dylan Busby: 0-4
Joel Cesar: 2 IP, 2 H, BB

— Bristol (9-35) got an early lead over Danville when Ben Bengtson hit a two-run HR in the first, his third HR of the season. The Pirates clung to a 2-1 until the eighth, but gave up three runs in the inning. They then loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but failed to score and lost, 4-2, to Danville. The Pirates wasted a strong start by Braeden Ogle, who gave up just an unearned run in five innings. He allowed four hits, walked nobody and fanned five. Ogle threw 46 of 68 pitches for strikes. Three of the four runs Bristol allowed were unearned, as the Pirates added three errors to their season’s total, which leads the league by a wide margin. Jason Delay was 2-5.