Cannonballs coming: Shane Baz debuts

West Virginia is still off.

— Indianapolis (38-31) lost one of its announced starters mid-game — but not the expected one — but still beat Norfolk, 5-3. Nick Kingham had a solid start, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk over six innings, with six strikeouts. Enny Romero made a rehab appearance, throwing a perfect inning with one strikeout. Kevin Kramer had a big game, going 2-4 with a double and his 11th home run. Kramer is now batting 273/332/488. The other Kevin, Newman, went 3-5 with a double. Adam Frazier got a hit in his first at-bat and then departed for Pittsburgh.

Chris Bostick: 0-4
Jordan Luplow: 2-3, BB
Max Moroff: 0-3, BB

— Altoona (35-30) won the first game of its doubleheader with Richmond, 5-1. Mitch Keller largely breezed through six innings without quite dominating. He gave up an unearned run (throwing error by Cole Tucker) on four hits and a walk. Keller struck out four and needed 94 pitches. He also had an RBI single. Tucker was 2-3 with a walk and Bryan Reynolds 3-4 with a double.

Jason Martin: 1-4
Will Craig: 1-4
Stephen Alemais: 1-3

The Curve lost the second game by the same score. Altoona had only two hits, doubles by Reynolds and Jin-De Jhang. Reynolds finished 1-3. Tucker, Martin and Craig all went 0-3. The Curve went with a bullpen game and Sean Keselica failed to survive the first, allowing four runs.

— Bradenton (35-30) scored all of its runs in the second inning in a 9-1 shelling of Clearwater. A two-run double by Jason Delay, a two-run home run by Alfredo Reyes (his third HR) and a three-run shot by Lucas Tancas (his fourth HR) highlighting the festivities. Delay finished 1-3 with a walk, Reyes 2-3 with a walk and Tancas 2-4 with a double. Luis Escobar continued his up-and-down season, throwing six shutout innings. He gave up two hits and two walks, and fanned six.

Jared Oliva: 1-5
Adrian Valerio: 2-4, 2 2B

— Morgantown (2-4) beat Batavia, 4-3. Starter Alex Manasa had strong game, throwing six shutout innings before tiring in the seventh. He finished with two runs allowed in six and a third, both scoring after he left. He gave up four hits and three walks, and struck out four. The Black Bears’ lineup remains mostly uninteresting; two of the Pirates’ draft picks from the top ten rounds, both college position players, are still in the college world series and a third just got knocked out. Most of today’s offense came from Michael de la Cruz, who was 3-4 and scored twice, and Edison Lantigua, who was 2-4 with three RBIs. Brett Kinneman was 0-2 with a walk.

— Shane Baz threw five shutout innings in his season debut as Bristol (2-0) blanked Greeneville, 11-0. It wasn’t the cleanest five innings, as Baz threw only 45 of 80 pitches for strikes. Baz gave up four hits and three walks, struck out one and threw two wild pitches. Argenis Romano followed with three scoreless innings, giving up three hits and fanning five. Everybody in the Pirates’ lineup had at least one hit. Conner Uselton and Mikell Granberry each went 2-3 with a double. Eddy Vizcaino was 3-4 with a double.

Mason Martin: 2-6, 3B
Sherten Apostel: 2-4

— The GCL Pirates (0-3) got stomped by the Tigers East, 8-0. The Bucs have now been outscored 27-5 in dropping their first three games. They managed only two singles, by Samuel Inoa and Carlos Garcia. Starter Santiago Florez gave up six runs, four earned, over three and a third innings.

— The DSL Pirates1 (8-8) beat the Cubs1, 5-4. Starter Yandy Vega threw no-hit ball for four innings before giving up three runs in the fifth. Julio Rosario went three and two thirds, giving up an unearned run on two hits and a walk, with four strikeouts. Valentin Linarez fanned the side, with a walk, in the ninth for the save. Yoyner Fajardo and Daniel Rivero each went 2-4, with Fajardo getting a double and a triple. Emilson Rosado was 2-3 with a double. Rivero and Fajardo are both just 17.

— The DSL Pirates2 (5-11) lost to the Mariners, 7-4. Mariano Dotel was 2-4 with a double and 17-year-old Mario Jerez hit his first pro home run. Starter Willy Basil, an older (21) signee this year, threw five shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and fanned five. Two relievers gave up six runs in the eighth to blow a 4-1 lead.