Cannonballs coming: Big doubleheader for Cole Tucker

The Pirates’ decisions (sub. req’d) to call up Chris Bostick and to put Austin Meadows on the minor league disabled list had a domino effect. Two organizational players, infielder Anderson Feliz and outfielder Justin Maffei, moved up to Indianapolis from Altoona. Replacing them with the Curve are infielder Mitchell Tolman and outfielder Casey Hughston, both moving up from Bradenton.

— Indianapolis (79-62) scored six times in the first and had 20 hits overall in a 13-3 drubbing of Toledo. Every Indy starter had at least one hit and Maffei, entering as a sub, went 2-3. Gift Ngoepe was 3-6 with a double and a triple. Feliz was 3-5 with a double and three RBIs. Casey Sadler made his first AAA start since before he had Tommy John surgery. He had a rough first inning, allowing three runs, but held on to go six. He gave up eight hits, walked none and struck out three.

Kevin Newman: 2-5, 2B, 3 runs
Jacob Stallings: 2-5, 3 RBI
Johnny Barbato: 2 IP, H, 5 K

— Altoona (73-66) took a 3-2 lead into the ninth in the first game of its doubleheader with Harrisburg, but the Curve lost, 4-3, when Johnny Hellweg served up a two-run HR. Cole Tucker (pictured) was 2-3 with two walks and Jin-De Jhang 3-4. Alex McRae gave up a run on six hits and no walks. He struck out four. The winning pitcher for Harrisburg was some guy named Dragmire.

The Curve took the second game, 6-0, as Austin Coley threw seven innings, allowing just five hits and a walk, and striking out two. Tucker was 2-4 with a double and his second AA HR. Tucker struggled initially after his promotion to AA, but since August 20, he’s 23-for-57 (.404). Elvis Escobar also had two hits and Casey Hughston hit a two-run triple in his first AA at-bat. The Curve maintained a one-game lead over Bowie in the contest for home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

— Bradenton finished its season with a 4-2 win over Charlotte. The victory left the Marauders with a 70-62 record. Logan Sendelbach gave up the two runs on three hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out four. Bradenton had only four hits, two of them by Logan Ratledge, but also drew seven walks. Stephen Alemais went 0-3 with a walk, finishing with a .317 average in 30 games at this level. Ke’Bryan Hayes was 1-4. Will Craig didn’t play, which seems rather odd for the guy who was the team’s top draft pick a year ago on the final day of the season.

— Some sloppy defense led to a 3-1 loss to Delmarva and damaged West Virginia’s (68-67) playoff chances. Two of the three runs scored on errors, one by Adrian Valerio and the other by Hunter Owen. Matt Eckelman started and gave up one run and one unearned run in four and two-thirds innings. He gave up four hits, walked none and struck out four. Ryan Nagle provided the only offense with his third HR. The Power had eight hits, but went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. Valerio went 0-3 and Owen 1-4 with a double.

— Morgantown (38-34) lost to Williamsport, 8-3. Starter Sergio Cubilete gave up four runs, three earned, on seven hits and a walk in five innings. He fanned five. Bligh Madris was 2-4 with a double. Kevin Kramer moved his rehab from the GCL and went 0-4.