Bradenton’s game was postponed due to wet grounds.
— Clay Holmes threw seven strong innings in Indianapolis’ (54-47) 4-0 shutout of Rochester. Holmes allowed just four hits and a walk, and struck out five. He threw 62 of 94 pitches for strikes and got a dozen groundball outs. Ryan Lavarnway went 2-3 with his sixth home run and Chris Bostick was 1-3 with two RBIs. Austin Meadows went 0-4 and is 6-for-32 since returning to AAA.
Kevin Newman, Max Moroff, Kevin Kramer: each 1-4
Jose Osuna: 1-3, BB
Jason Martin: 0-3
Jesus Liranzo: IP, BB, K
— Bryan Reynolds (pictured) hit a three-run, walkoff home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Altoona (54-46) an 8-7 win over Binghamton. Reynolds finished 2-5 and the homer was his fourth. Will Craig also went deep, his 18th. Austin Coley lasted only four and two-thirds, giving up three runs. Nick Burdi tried his first multi-inning outing and it didn’t go well, as he allowed five hits and three runs over two innings. Burdi walked one and didn’t strike out anybody.
Cole Tucker: 1-4, BB
Ke’Bryan Hayes: 2-4, BB
Christian Kelley: 2-4, 2B
Stephen Alemais: 1-4
— West Virginia (50-48) lost the first game of its doubleheader with Kannapolis, 3-2. Oneil Cruz went 2-2 with two doubles and a walk, but that was half of the Power’s hits. Cal Mitchell was 1-3 and Lolo Sanchez 0-3. Hunter Stratton threw a six-inning complete game, with the decisive run scoring on two errors and a wild pitch. Stratton allowed five hits and a walk, and struck out three.
The Power again got only four hits in losing the second game as well, 2-1. Ike Schlabach pitched well, allowing the two runs in five and a third innings. He gave up four hits and a walk, and struck out five. Cruz was 1-3 with a double, Mitchell 1-3, Sanchez 0-1 with a walk, and Rodolfo Castro 0-3.
— Morgantown (15-24) lost to Aberdeen, 3-2. The Black Bears wasted a good outing by Alex Manasa, who gave up just an unearned run in six innings. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out one. Morgantown didn’t score until they rallied for two in the bottom of the ninth, but they left the tying run on second. Travis Swaggerty was 1-2 with two walks, but the lineup overall managed just six singles.
— Bristol (16-18) edged Bluefield, 7-6. Jeremiah Portorreal, who’s been struggling to stay above .100, had the big hit, his first home run of the year to put the Pirates ahead in the top of the ninth. Francisco Mepris went 3-6 and Jonah Davis 2-5 with a walk. Colin Selby gave up four runs, only two of them earned, in six innings. He allowed six hits and a walk, and struck out four. The Pirates had 13 hits and eight walks, and stranded 13.
Mason Martin: 1-4, BB
Sherten Apostel: 1-3, 2 BB
Conner Uselton: 0-5
— The GCL Pirates (12-16) lost to the Blue Jays, 6-5, in ten innings. The Pirates tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the Jays scored two in the top of the tenth and the Pirates could only get their fake run in. Jack Herman went 2-5 with a double and Pat Dorrian 2-3 with a triple. Jean Eusebio was 1-3 with a walk and Ji-Hwan Bae 0-4 with a walk.
— The DSL Pirates1 (23-23) beat the Indians, 9-7. Shendrik Apostel (18), Sherten’s brother, went 2-4 with a walk, his fifth home run and three RBIs. As a refresher, Apostel is 6’5”, 245 and built like a linebacker, so he’s limited to first. He was out for a couple weeks, but he’s among the league leaders in HRs even though he has only about two-thirds of the playing time the other leaders have gotten. Jommer Hernandez (17), the most notable catcher in the team’s 2017-18 signing class, went 2-3 with a double and is 10-for-22 (.455) in his last seven games. Yoyner Fajardo (19) was also 2-3 with a double, and drove in three. Darwin Baez (17), another catcher, went 2-4 with a walk.
— The DSL Pirates2 (19-26) beat the Mariners, 4-3, on a two-run, pinch-hit walkoff single by Matthew Mercedes (19). Edgar Barrios (18) and Pedro Castillo (18) each went 2-4. Denny Roman (19) gave up just an unearned run on one hit in three innings, while striking out five. Roman has fanned 29 in 15.2 IP so far. (One caveat is that he’s a 5’9” lefty. Its possible for a guy with nothing but a good change or curve to run up high K rates at this level.) Starter Willy Basil (21) gave up an unearned run on three hits and two walks in four innings. He struck out four.