Cannonballs coming: Jordan Luplow shows signs of life

— With a miserable month of April behind him, Jordan Luplow hopefully came alive in Indianapolis’ (12-11) 7-5 loss to Toledo. Luplow drove in all the Indians’ runs with his first two home runs of the season. He finished 2-4. Chris Bostick went 3-5 with two doubles. He’s now batting 353/397/559, but like Jose Osuna and Max Moroff, he remains forgotten amidst the Pirates’ obsession with Adam Frazier. Austin Coley had another rough outing, giving up eight hits and five runs in five innings. The Indy rotation is looking a good deal less than formidable, with Coley (10.05 ERA, 2.37 WHIP) and Alex McRae (6.55, 1.95) struggling to adjust to AAA, and Casey Sadler (8.31, 2.62) looking like he hasn’t recovered from Tommy John surgery two years ago. Reliever Tyler Jones, who looked good in spring training, gave up two runs to take the loss and now has an ERA of 6.39.

Kevin Kramer: 1-4, BB
Osuna: 1-4

— Altoona (13-10) failed to hold a 2-1 ninth inning lead, but beat Richmond in ten, 3-2. Geoff Hartlieb gave up a two-out, run-scoring single to blow the save in the bottom of the ninth. After the Curve scored their phony run in the top of the tenth, though, Hartlieb kept the tying run from scoring after Richmond bunted their own phony runner to third with one out. Jason Martin went 3-4 with a double, and drove in the go-ahead run twice. Brandon Waddell followed J.T. Brubaker’s strong start with one of his own, allowing one run over seven innings. He gave up four hits and three walks, and struck out two. You have to wonder how long it’ll be before the Pirates try to shore up the AAA rotation.

Stephen Alemais: 0-5 (3-for-24 in last six games)
Ke’Bryan Hayes: 1-3, 2B, BB
Will Craig: 1-5
Logan Hill: 1-5 (batting 133/188/213 with 31 Ks in 75 ABs)

— Bradenton (15-11) got all of its runs in the sixth inning and beat Dunedin, 6-3. Four players — Jared Oliva, Adrian Valerio, Bligh Madris and Arden Pabst — all went 2-4, Madris with a triple and the others with doubles. Starter Cam Vieaux got hit around some, giving up eight hits in five and two-thirds innings, but gave up only three runs, two earned. He walked one and struck out five.

West Virginia (14-12) pitchers fanned 17 batters, but the Power still lost to Augusta, 3-1. Starter Hunter Stratton, recently activated from extended spring training, struggled in his first two outings but pitched reasonably well through four innings. He gave up two runs on a walk, a hit batsman and a double in the second, but overall gave up just two hits and two walks while fanning seven. Ryan Peurifoy, who hit a walkoff yesterday, homered again his first time up today, his third of the year. He finished 2-4. Lolo Sanchez continued to struggle badly, going 0-4 with a walk. He’s now mired in a 2-for-40 skid.

Calvin Mitchell: 0-4
Deon Stafford: 1-4, 2B
Oneil Cruz: 2-4
Rodolfo Castro: 0-3, BB
Mason Martin: 0-3, BB
Blake Cederlind: 2 IP, H, 2 BB, 5 K