Cannonballs coming: Jonah Davis homers twice

By WTM Aug 16, 2018, 10:05pm EDT

Minor Transactions

by Brian Cartwright

I apologize for my work schedule getting in the way of posting for a few days. There are several moves to catch up on.

OF Travis Swaggerty (288/357/453), SS Connor Kaiser (212/299/260) and 1B Luke Mangieri (247/322/346), all college draft picks this June, move up from Morgantown to Charleston, while 3B Ben Bengston (220/262/329), SS Kyle Watson (188/283/283) and OF (222/300/325) Fabricio Macias get sent down to make room. Macias has been disappointing as he’d hit well in the Triple-A Mexican league as a 19 year old last year. Bengston and Watson are both college picks from 2017.

2018-08-15 Pittsburgh Pirates sent RHP Nick Burdi on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians.
2018-08-13 Pittsburgh Pirates sent RHP A.J. Schugel on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians.
2018-08-13 Indianapolis Indians activated C Jackson Williams from the 7-day disabled list.
2018-08-15 West Virginia Power activated 3B Dylan Busby from the 7-day disabled list. He’d been out since May 21 after being struck in the head with a pitch.
2018-08-14 Bradenton Marauders placed RF Bligh Madris on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to August 11, 2018.
2018-08-15 West Virginia Power placed SS Oneil Cruz on the 7-day disabled list retroactive to August 14, 2018.
2018-08-15 OF Travis Swaggerty assigned to West Virginia Power from West Virginia Black Bears.
2018-08-15 SS Connor Kaiser assigned to West Virginia Power from West Virginia Black Bears.
2018-08-15 IF Luke Mangieri assigned to West Virginia Power from West Virginia Black Bears.
2018-08-14 3B Ben Bengtson assigned to West Virginia Black Bears from West Virginia Power.
2018-08-14 SS Kyle Watson assigned to West Virginia Black Bears from West Virginia Power.
2018-08-14 OF Fabricio Macias assigned to West Virginia Black Bears from West Virginia Power.
2018-08-14 OF Justin Harrer assigned to Bradenton Marauders from GCL Pirates.
2018-08-16 RHP Brad Case assigned to Bristol Pirates from GCL Pirates.

Games

— Jesus Liranzo gave up a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to blow a 5-4 lead as Indianapolis (66-57) lost to Lehigh Valley, 6-5. Brandon Waddell started and gave up three runs in six innings on four hits and three walks. He struck out four. Jose Osuna and Kevin Kramer each went 2-4 with a double. Max Moroff was 0-2 with three walks. Jason Martin continued to slump, going 0-4. Dovydas Neverauskas gave up a run on a solo home run in his one inning.

— Altoona (63-54) blew a 6-3 eighth inning lead and lost to New Hampshire, 7-6. Eduardo Vera started and gave up three runs in six innings. Cole Tucker was 2-4 with a triple and Will Craig 2-4 with a double and a walk. Tyler Gaffney hit his third home run with two aboard. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 0-5, ending his hitting streak at 16 games.

— Bradenton (50-65) lost for the 21st time in 25 games, 5-0, to Clearwater. Pedro Vasquez, who seems to be going backwards, gave up five runs, four earned, in five innings. The Marauders had eight hits, but went hitless in seven tries with runners in scoring position. Adrian Valerio was 1-4.

— West Virginia (61-56) rallied for two runs in the eighth and edged Columbia, 3-2. Rodolfo Castro, who was 1-3, doubled in the tying run and Travis Swaggerty, who was 1-4, singled in Castro. Oddy Nunez gave up two runs on seven hits in seven innings. Connor Kaiser was 2-4. Cal Mitchell went 0-4, and Deon Stafford and Lolo Sanchez each 0-3.

— Morgantown was getting hammered by Batavia, 7-1, in the fifth inning of a rain-delayed game. Starter Mike LoPresti lasted just an inning and two-thirds, giving up five runs. Edison Lantigua was 2-2. The box score is here.

— Bristol (26-30) lost to Burlington in the completion of a game that was suspended a month ago with Bristol losing, 10-8, with two out in the top of the tenth. Bristol had scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game. In the bottom of the tenth, the Pirates plated the bogus runner, then loaded the bases with nobody out, but failed to score, leaving the final at 10-9. Jonah Davis (pictured), Mason Martin and Mikel Granberry all went 2-4. Davis had a triple and two walks, and Martin had a double and a walk. Sherten Apostel went 1-5 with a double and Francisco Mepris drew four walks. Roger Santana started and threw five shutout innings way back on July 20. He gave up six hits and three walks, and struck out two. The bullpen walked seven in five innings.

Davis went deep twice and drove in four as the Pirates won the regularly scheduled game, 8-5. Davis finished 2-5 and now has 11 home runs. Bristol had only six hits, but four of them were longballs and they also drew ten walks. Apostel went 1-4 with a walk and his seventh home run, and Granberry was 1-4 with his fifth. Martin was 0-3 with two walks. Steven Jennings had probably the best start of his career, allowing just an unearned run in seven innings. He gave up five hits and a walk, and fanned seven.

— The GCL Pirates (22-23) scored three in the ninth to tie their game with the Tigers East, then won, 11-10, on a walkoff error in the tenth. Fernando Villegas had a big game, going 4-5 with a triple and six RBIs, including a two-run single to tie the game with two out in the ninth. Jack Herman went 2-4 with a walk and three runs. He’s now batting 371/457/517 and has a sizeable lead for the GCL batting title with just over a week left in the season. Pat Dorrian was 3-5 with three runs. Ji-Hwan Bae went 0-4 but scored two runs.

— The DSL Pirates1 (29-35) took an 8-1 lead in the sixth, but managed to lose to the Red Sox2, 10-8. Carlos Arroyo (17) went 2-4 with a walk; Yoyner Fajardo (19) 1-3 with a double, two walks and three RBIs; and Rayvi Rodriguez (20) 2-3. Juan Pie (17) walked in all three of his plate appearances and Shendrik Apostel (18) fanned four times.

— The DSL Pirates2 (25-39) lost to the Tigers2, 9-2. The Pirates had only four hits, half of them by Angel Basabe (17), who went 2-4 with a double and a walk. Yeison Santos (17) allowed just an unearned run in five and a third innings of relief. He gave up three hits, walked none and fanned six. Santos has a 1.13 ERA in 15 games.

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

2018-08-11 2B Stephen Alemais
2018-08-04 RHP Austin Coley, right shoulder strain
2018-08-05 RF Braelin Jackson (left quadriceps strain)

High-A Bradenton

2018-08-11 RF Bligh Madris

Single-A West Virginia

2018-04-16 RHP Dylan Prohoroff
2018-05-03 LHP Braeden Ogle, sore shoulder
2018-07-19 LF Chris Sharpe
2018-07-20 RHP Cody Bolton
2018-08-14 SS Oneil Cruz
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)