All Hands on Deck: Aaron Shackelford with three RBI for Bristol

By Brian Cartwright Aug 26, 2019, 1:34am EDT

Only one win vs five losses in a short schedule.

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RHP Matt Eardensohn (2.45 ERA in 25 ²⁄₃ IP) was promoted from Bristol to West Virginia. The 23 year old right-handed reliever was signed this summer as an undrafted free agent from Coastal Carolina and has already pitched for the GCL Pirates, Bristol and Bradenton.

Games

Triple-A

Indianapolis (64-68) falls 3-2 at Louisville (54-78)

The Indians first two runners in the first inning scored their only runs of the game as SS Cole Tucker (264/351/408) walked and 2B Jake Elmore (342/407/487) hit his sixth homer of the year.

JB Shuck (4.24 ERA, 22 K’s in 17 IP) was the starting pitcher and took that 2-0 lead into the third, but was lifted after a walk to Ryan Lavarnway loaded the bases and another to Alex Blandino forced in a run. In two and two thirds innings, Shuck threw only 31 of 62 pitches for strikes, allowing the one run on two hits and three walks, as he fanned two. It was just the second time in fourteen appearances that Shuck had been scored upon.

Rookie Davis (5.47 ERA in 49 ¹⁄₃ IP) took the loss when he served up a two-run homer in the sixth. Over three and a third innings he allowed four hits and a walk while striking out three.

Elmore, who leads the International League with his .342 batting average and is third with a .407 on-base percentage, had two hits as did RF Eric Wood (243/323/422).

Double-A

Altoona (65-67) falls 4-3 at Bowie (73-59)

The Curve scored all three of their runs in the top of the eight, capped by 1B Logan Hill’s (249/326/433) two-run single, but their comeback fell a run short.

Starter Beau Sulser (2.60 ERA in 90 IP) only went three innings, allowing single runs in the first and second innings on a total of four hits and four walks. He failed to strike out any batters.

Jesus Liranzo (4.83 ERA in 54 IP) followed and went two innings, giving up two runs in the fourth which turned out to be the deciding margin.

Hill had three of Altoona’s six hits.

High-A

Bradenton (70-61) trounced 10-3 by visiting Daytona Beach (63-67)

Aaron Shortridge (9-5, 3.25 ERA in 135 ²⁄₃ IP) gave up single runs in the first and third but then was tagged for three runs in the fifth, two on Hendrik Clementina’s 13th home run, snapping his streak of four consecutive games allowing one or fewer runs. Shortridge struck out just two without walking anyone as he allowed seven hits in his five innings.

Reliever Hunter Stratton (4.50 ERA in 72 IP) was knocked around for five more runs over the final two innings on six hits and three walks.

The Marauders had only five hits, two each by LF Lolo Sanchez (257/343/369) and 2B Chase Lambert (232/361/333) and a double by SS Rodolfo Castro (244/297/466)

Low-A

Greensboro (75-55) goes down 10-4 at Hickory (78-49)

Starter Noe Toribio (3.39 ERA in 61 IP) took a two-hit shutout and a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but was touched for two runs on a single, double and single, but the bullpen fell apart, serving up eight runs over the next two innings. Toribio struck out four without any walks.

Will Gardner (3.13 ERA, 53 K’s in 46 IP) was charged with six runs in one and a third innings on five hits and two walks.

CF Jonah Davis (238/325/477) doubled and hit his 18th home run. It was his the 30th of his career in 129 games.

LF Justin Harrer (235/329/385) hit his sixth homer and SS Ji-hwan Bae (322/404/417) was 2-for-3, extending his hitting streak to eight games.

Short Season A

West Virginia (36-31) gets walked off 4-3 at State College (35-33)

Reliever Garrett Leonard (4.62 ERA in 25 ¹⁄₃ IP) gave up three runs in the bottom of the ninth on four hits and a walk as State College rallied for a walk-off win.

Grant Ford (2.97 ERA in 36 ¹⁄₃ IP) started and went three scoreless innings, leaving with a 3-0 lead as he surrendered just one hit and one walk while fanning two. Frances del Orbe (4.08 ERA, 41 K’s in 35 ¹⁄₃ IP) followed and struck out seven in four innings without a walk, allowing three hits, with the only run coming on a solo homer in the fourth.

The Black Bears scored all three of there runs in the second. RF Matt Fraizer (234/306/289) doubled with one out and stole third, then came home on 1B Brendt Citta’s (285/367/449) single to left. After a fielder’s choice left Citta safe and two runners on, SS Victor Ngoepe (211/262/263) knocked both of them home with a triple.

Advanced Rookie

Bristol (33-.1) wins 10-8 at Johnson City (33-32)

3B Jesus Valdez (302/381/442) and DH Aaron Shackelford (277/339/500) each drove in three runs as the Pirates overcame a 4-0 deficit with five runs in the third and three in the fourth.

Starer Adrian Florencio (4.75 ERA in 47 ¹⁄₃ IP) served up a pair of solo homers in the first and another two runs in the second. In his three innings ha allowed five hits and two walks while fanning four.

Rookie

No games scheduled.

Dominican Rookie

Regular season concluded.

There are six divisions in the 45 team league. The Pirates-2 finished at 56-16 with the league’s most wins but second in won/loss percentage. They, along with the Rangers-1 (55-15) were the two division winners with the best records and thus get a first round bye.

Starting on Monday, Aug. 26, the Royals-1 (41-29) play the Rockies (43-21) and the Diamondbacks-2 (44-26) play the Reds (47-24) in a best of three, with the two winners advancing to play the Rangers-1 and Pirates-2 on Thursday.