Cannonballs coming: Several very good pitching performances head the system

West Virginia was rained out.

— Tyler Eppler threw six and a third scoreless innings as Indianapolis (42-33) beat Toledo, 7-1. Eppler gave up four hits, walked none and struck out four. Bo Schultz and Josh Smoker gave up six hits over the last two and two-thirds innings, but only one run, which came on a solo home run off Smoker in the ninth. Jordan Luplow hit his seventh home run for the Indians and Erich Weiss his fourth. Luplow was 1-3 with two walks and Max Moroff 2-5 with a double. Moroff is batting .371 in his last ten games, which is 318 points higher than Sean Rodriguez is hitting in his last 20 games. Chris Bostick was 0-5 with four strikeouts. He has a .640 OPS in June, so the Pirates have succeeded in waiting out his hot hitting.

Adam Frazier: 1-4
Kevin Kramer: 1-3, 2B, BB

— Taylor Hearn (pictured) threw a complete game, seven-inning shutout as Altoona (39-33) edged Harrisburg in the first game of their doubleheader, 1-0. Hearn threw 100 pitches, 70 for strikes, while allowing four hits and a walk, and fanning seven. Since the beginning of May, he has an ERA of 2.35, with 63 strikeouts in 53.2 IP. The Curve had only three hits. The lone run came when Bryan Reynolds singled in Cole Tucker. Reynolds and Tucker each went 1-3, as did Ke’Bryan Hayes, who had a triple. Jason Martin was 0-3.

Altoona won the second game by the same score. The Curve went with a bullpen game and Tate Scioneaux, Yeudy Garca and Sean Keselica pitched the first six and two-thirds. Montana DuRapau struck out the only batter he faced to get the save. Altoona had just three hits. The only run scored in the second when Reynolds reached on an error and scored on a double by Jordan George, who had two of the three hits. Stephen Alemais had the other one. Tucker, Martin and Will Craig all went 0-3.

— Luis Escobar continued his ups and downs as Bradenton (36-34) lost to Palm Beach, 8-3. After throwing six shutout innings in his last start, Escobar walked the first two batters he faced and things went badly from there. He was charged with six runs, five earned, on seven hits and two walks over five innings. He fanned seven. Alfredo Reyes, Casey Hughston and Hunter Owen each had two hits.

Jared Oliva: 1-5
Bligh Madris: 1-3, BB
Blake Weiman: 2 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 K

— Osvaldo Bido gave up six runs in the third inning as Morgantown (5-7) lost to Auburn, 9-3. Travis Swaggerty went 2-4 with a double, Brett Kinneman also was 2-4, and a rehabbing Eric Wood homered.

Conner Kaiser: 0-3
John Pomeroy: 1.1 IP, R, 0 ER, 3 BB, K
Conner Loeprich: 1.2 IP, K

— Bristol (5-3) beat Pulaski, 7-5. Jonah Davis led the offense, going 3-5 with two doubles and three runs scored. In his last two games, Davis is 6-for-10 with five extra base hits. Connor Uselton was 2-4 and Dean Lockery 2-4 with a double. Starter Oliver Garcia managed to allow only two runs despite six walks in three and two-thirds innings. Leandro Pina pitched well in relief for three-plus innings, but wore out in the eighth and gave up three runs. He fanned six over four total innings.

Mason Martin: 1-4, 2B
Sherten Apostel: 1-3, BB

— The GCL Pirates (2-5) lost to the Yankees West, 2-1. Starter Luis Arrieta allowed just two hits over six shutout innings. He walked four and struck out five. Jean Eusebio went 2-4 with a double. He has a 1.030 OPS in the early going. Thirtieth round pick Jack Herman made his debut, going 1-3 with a walk.

— The DSL Pirates1 (9-12) shut out the Red Sox2, 1-0. Starter Yandy Vega went six, allowing two hits and a walk, and striking out three. Ronaldo Paulino, who was 2-3 with a walk, drove in Yoyner Fajardo, who was 3-4, with the only run. Fajardo is batting .385.

Norkis Marcos: 2-4
Daniel Rivero: 2-3, BB
Felix Pie: 0-4

— Three pitchers combined on a one-hitter as the DSL Pirates2 (9-12) shut out Colorado, 5-0. Starter Willy Basil went six and gave up the only hit, along with one walk. He struck out three. Basil has a 1.11 ERA and 0.95 WHIP after five outings. Germin Lopez and Bryan Mateo were each 2-4 with a walk. Mateo had a triple.