Cannonballs coming: Mitch Keller turns in a strong start

— Mitch Keller had his first truly good AAA start as Indianapolis (65-51) beat Lehigh Valley, 3-1. Keller allowed one run on four hits and a walk over six innings. He fanned six and threw 64 of 88 pitches for strikes. Lehigh Valley, for context, is third in the International League in runs scored. Kevin Newman and Jacob Stallings each went 2-4, Newman with his 30th double. Jason Martin was 1-4 and Kevin Kramer 0-2 with a walk. Buddy Boshers made his Pirates debut with a scoreless inning, walking one. Steven Brault faced four hitters, retiring them all and striking out three. Alex McRae got the last two outs on strikeouts for the save, but loaded the bases on a hit and two walks before he ended it.

— Altoona (61-51) took a 9-2 lead into the ninth and hung on to beat Trenton, 9-7. Logan Hill was 2-5 with a double, his 14th home run and four RBIs. Cole Tucker was 3-4 with a walk and Bryan Reynolds 3-6. Ke’Bryan Hayes was 1-5 with a double, a walk and three strikeouts. Will Craig was 1-4 with a walk. Eduardo Vera gave up two runs on six hits in six innings, walking none and striking out five. Sean Keselica nearly blew things up in the ninth, walking five while recording just one out.

— Bradenton (50-59) lost to Tampa, 5-3. Evan Piechota, who’s had some extreme ups and downs, gave up five runs on seven hits in six innings. A.J. Schugel threw a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out two. Mitchell Tolman went 2-4 with his second home run. Marauders hitters fanned 16 times.

— West Virginia (58-53) won the first game of its doubleheader with Greensboro, 5-3. Travis MacGregor allowed only one hit over four innings — in fact, the Power’s pitchers allowed only one hit in the entire game — but he had control problems and also made an error that cost him two unearned runs. MacGregor allowed one earned run, walked four and threw two wild pitches while throwing only 30 of 57 pitches for strikes. He struck out two. Deon Stafford was 2-3 and Raul Hernandez 2-2 with a double and a walk. Oneil Cruz returned from a brief absence and went 1-4. Lolo Sanchez went 1-2, but left after what may have been an injury running the bases. Rodolfo Castro, just returned from a back problem, went 0-2 and then left the game. Cal Mitchell was 0-3.

The Power took the second game as well, 9-7. Max Kranick, following two very strong starts, lasted only three and a third innings, allowing five runs. He gave up four hits and two walks, and struck out four. Robbie Glendinning went 3-3 with a double, a walk and three RBIs, and Rafelin Lorenzo went 3-4. Mitchell had two doubles in four at-bats and Fabricio Macias was 2-3 with a double, a walk and three runs. Jesse Medrano hit his second home run.

— Morgantown (18-35) lost to State College, 8-7. The Black Bears took a 5-2 lead by scoring four runs on just one hit in the top of the seventh, but their bullpen got torched for six runs in the seventh and eighth. They scored two in the top of the ninth and had runners on second and third with one out, but Connor Kaiser and Zack Kone couldn’t get a run in. Mike LoPresti started and gave up one earned and one unearned run in five innings on seven hits. He walked two and struck out two. Mike Gretler was 2-5 with a double and Jhoan Herrera 2-4 with his fourth home run. Travis Swaggerty was 1-4 with a walk.

— Bristol (22-25) got only three hits but beat Greeneville, 4-2. Colin Selby started and fanned eight over four innings, but threw only 48 of 83 pitches for strikes. He gave up two runs on six hits and two walks. Will Kobos and Joe Jacques each fanned three in two scoreless innings in relief. Mason Martin and Jonah Davis each went 0-3 with a walk. Sherten Apostel left after getting hit by a pitch.

— The GCL Pirates (19-21) beat the Yankees East, 8-6. Jack Herman continued his strong debut, going 3-5 with two doubles. He’s now hitting 364/454/535, with 16 walks and 17 strikeouts. Ji-Hwan Bae was 1-4 with a triple and a walk, while Jean Eusebio was 1-4. Ryan Haug hit his first pro home run and Kyle Mottice went 2-3. Santiago Florez started and went five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out four.

— The DSL Pirates1 (27-31) beat the Cubs1, 7-5. Yoyner Fajardo (19), Carlos Arroyo (17), Darwin Baez (17) and Shendrik Apostel (18) all went 2-4. Baez and Apostel had doubles. Juan Pie (17) was 1-4 with a double and Daniel Rivero (17) 1-3 with a double. Starter Arlinthon De Dios (18) struck out five over four innings, allowing two runs on four hits.

— The DSL Pirates2 (23-35) lost to the Royals2, 3-2. Starter Mario Garcia (19) gave up three runs, two earned, in five and a third innings. He allowed three hits, walked one and struck out five. Angel Basabe (17) was 1-4 with a double and Mario Jerez (17) 1-3 with a double.