All Hands on Deck: Kevin Kramer continue long ball tear

By Brian Cartwright Jul 31, 2019, 11:12pm EDT

Games

Triple-A

Indianapolis (55-53) wins 6-4 at Toledo (48-61)

RF Kevin Kramer (262/341/424) homered for the second straight day and the fourth time in seven games, a solo shot in the fifth, giving him nine for the year.

Starter Cam Vieaux (6-5, 4.26) got the win as he allowed three runs in five innings, including a two-run homer by Mikie Mahtook (265/361/485), his 14th, in the fourth. Vieaux allowed six hits and a walk, striking out seven.

1B Will Craig (251/323/454), DH Pablo Reyes (286/347/535) and LF Jake Elmore (352/417/492) each had two hits.

Double-A

Altoona (54-53) falls 7-2 at Trenton (57-50)

Nick Economos (8-7, 2.73) got hammered in his second start for Altoona after being promoted from Bradenton, as he allowed seven runs, six earned in just three and a third innings on nine hits and a walk. He struck out one.

The Curve only had six hits, two by CF Jared Oliva (285/363/424)

High-A

Charlotte at Bradenton was postponed.

Low-A

Greensboro (64-43) edges out 5-4 win at Charleston, West Virginia (55-54)

Starter Steven Jennings (5-9, 5.02) gave up a three-run homer in the first but allowed just one more run in his five innings, as he allowed four hits and a walk, fanning three.

Down 4-1 in the fifth, the Grasshopper mounted their comeback. RF Jonah Davis (200/296/381) had a solo homer in the fifth, his ninth, and then they took the lead with two in the seventh on a walk to Davis, a double by LF Jack Herman (259/337/517) and a single from 2B Ji-hwan Bae (301/380/393), with the final run on a sacrifice fly by CF Fabricio Macias (284/335/405)

Herman and Bae had two hits apiece.

Reliever Winston Nicacio (2.76 ERA in 29 ¹⁄₃ IP) got the win with a stellar performance, allowing just two hits over the final four innings as he fanned seven.

Short Season A

Morgantown, West Virginia (22-21) beaten 3-1 by visiting Staten Island (23-21)

2019 5th Round pick Grant Ford (3.05 ERA in 20 ²⁄₃ IP) allowed two runs, one earned, over the first four innings, on four hits and a walk while fanning seven, but that wasn’t enough as the Black Bears went down on strikes eighteen times, managing just four hits.

Advanced Rookie

Bristol (19-21) rolls 13-3 over visiting Greeneville (17-23)

The Pirates exploded for five runs in the fourth followed by another eight in the fifth.

20 year old right-hander Adrian Florencio (5.01 ERA in 32 ¹⁄₃ IP) pitched well enough, allowing three runs in five innings on seven hits and a walk. He struck out five.

3B Aaron Shackelford (273/343/488) led the attack with a pair of doubles and a homer, his fifth of the season, in five at bats, driving in five. RF Fernando Villegas was 2-for-4 with a double.

Shackelford, the Pirates 14th Round pick who was the 2019 NAIA player of the year as a senior at The Master’s College in California, was featured in an article at milb dot com, which you can read here.

Rookie

GCL Pirates (11-18) outscored 10-7 by Red Sox (16-11)

Starter Estalin Ortiz (10.64 ERA, 13 BB in 11 IP), with five runs in three innings, followed by reliever Julio Rosario (4.73 ERA in 13 ¹⁄₃ IP), with three runs in one inning, were both hit hard as the Pirates fell behind early.

RF Jasiah Dixon (429/478/619 in 6 games) and 1B Emilson Rosado (222/300/333) each had three hits.

Dominican Rookie

Pirates-1 (24-27) victorious 9-2 over Cubs-1 (23-28)

Starter Joelvis del Rosario (4.46 ERA in 36 ¹⁄₃ IP) turned in four scoreless innings on two hits and a walk, with five strikeouts, while Carlos Campos (4.32 ERA in 33 ¹⁄₃ IP) followed with four innings of four hit ball, the only scoring a solo homer.

CF Jose Berroa (263/363/328), DH Juan Jerez (262/314/452) and 1B Omar Matos (273/368/333) had two hits apiece.

Pirates-2 (43-8) beat Royals-2 (24-27) by 2-1 score, shortened to six innings

19 year old right-hander Francisco Hodge (1.41 ERA in 38 ¹⁄₃ IP) ran his record to 5-0, winning his third start of the year, while allowing his first run in 13 ¹⁄₃ innings in those three starts. In this game he allowed five hits and three walks while fanning three.

RF Randy Romero (408/448/565) held on to his league lead in batting average despite being held hitless as the Pirates collected only five hits in total, but DH Alex Mojica (361/485/594) was 2-for-3 with a double.