Cannonballs coming: Big games for Cole Tucker and Deon Stafford

By pedropower Aug 12, 2018, 4:03am EDT

Minor Transactions

For the second day in a row, nothing to report other than the regularly scheduled Pittsburgh/Indianapolis shuttle.

Games

--Indianapolis(65-53) saw their bullpen blow a late lead and lost to Pawtucket 3-2. J.T. Brubaker turned in another excellent start. Brubaker went 6.2 innings only allowing one run and struck out five batters. He was generating a lot of groundballs and threw 60 of his 95 pitches for strikes. Today’s outing lowered his ERA to 3.12 since being promoted to Triple A. Indy was leading 2-1 after seven but Steven Brault allowed two earned runs in the top of the eighth that turned out to be the difference in the game.

Kevin Newman: 1-4

Jason Martin: 1-2, 2 walks

Kevin Kramer: 1-4, double

--Altoona(63-52) swept a doubleheader against Erie today. The Curve prevailed 6-4 in game 1 as Luis Escobar was on the mound. The Curve jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning behind RBIs from Bryan Reynolds, Jordan George, and Logan Hill. Erie scored four runs off Escobar in the fourth inning to cut the lead to 5-4. Bret Helton and Matt Eckleman worked two scoreless innings to preserve the lead and give Altoona a 6-4 victory. Escobar has had difficulty since his promotion and came into today’s game with a FIP and xFIP both near 6.

Luis Escobar: 5 IP, 3 walks, 4 Ks, four runs

Cole Tucker: 2-4

Ke’Bryan Hayes: 2-4, double

Bryan Reynolds: 3-4

Will Craig: 1-3, double

Altoona prevailed in the 2nd game 4-2. Cam Vieaux turned in another solid start going six innings while only allowing three hits and two runs. Cole Tucker continued his strong day at the plate with three hits, including a triple.

Cole Tucker: 3-4, triple

Ke’Bryan Hayes: 1-4, 2 Ks

Bryan Reynolds: 1-4; .795 OPS

Will Craig: 0-3

--Bradenton(50-61) lost 5-2 to Tampa. The Marauders lineup is not very exciting these days and is even less so when Jared Oliva is out of the lineup as he was tonight.

Mitchell Tolman: 1-4

Adrian Valerio: 0-4, 3 Ks

--West Virginia(59-54) beat Rome 6-2 and Deon Stafford had a huge night at the plate. Stafford went 3-5 with his eighth homer of the year and a double. Stafford cooled off after a strong start but is starting to hit again in August with an .OPS of 1.162 so far this month. Hunter Stratton went seven innings and allowed two runs.

Oneil Cruz: 0-4, 2 Ks

Cal Mitchell: 2-5, 2 Ks

--Morgantown(20-35) pounded Mahoning Valley 9-3. Zach Spears went five innings and struck out six batters and earned his first victory of the year. Connor Kaiser got the Black Bears on the board in the second inning with his first home run of the year. Travis Swaggerty was 3-5 with a double and 2 RBIs. Swaggerty has an OPS of .814 after 135 ABs.

--Bristol(23-26) beat Greenville 3-0 as Shane Baz turned in a very encouraging start. Baz threw five scoreless innings and struck out six batters vs only one walk.

Jonah Davis: 0-4, 2 Ks

Mason Martin: 0-2, 2 Ks, 3 walks

Chase Lambert: 2-4, double

Zac Susi: 3-4

--The GCL Pirates(19-22) were suspended after three innings but recently signed Michael Burrows was in the midst of a strong start. Burrows threw three scoreless innings and had three strike outs.

--The DSL Pirates1(29-31) defeated the DSL Indians 3-0. Yoelvis Reyes(18 years old) had an excellent start going five innings while recording six Ks and only allowing one hit.

Juan Pie: 1-4

Shendrik Apostel: 2-3

--The DSL Pirates2(24-36) scored three runs in the bottom of the eight to defeat the DSL Giants 7-6. 18 year old catcher Rodolfo Bone was 2-4 and has a .924 OPS so far this season.

Disabled List

Triple-A Indianapolis

2018-06-27 3B Jung Ho Kang, left wrist sprain (underwent possible season ending surgery)
2018-07-14 RHP Bo Schultz, right forearm strain
OF Daniel Nava

Double-A Altoona

2018-08-04 RHP Austin Coley, right shoulder strain
2018-08-05 RF Braelin Jackson (left quadriceps strain)

Single-A West Virginia

2018-04-16 RHP Dylan Prohoroff
2018-05-03 LHP Braeden Ogle, sore shoulder
2018-05-21 3B Dylan Busby, struck in head with pitch (on rehab 8-11 at Bristol)
2018-07-19 LF Chris Sharpe
2018-07-20 RHP Cody Bolton
RHP Will Reed
LHP Angel Martinez

Rookie Bristol

2018-08-02 RHP Leandro Pina (60 day)

Rookie GCL

2018-06-18 RHP Luis Gonzalez (60 day)
CF Emison Soto (60 day)