All Hands on Deck: West Virginia on verge of elimination

By Brian Cartwright Sep 2, 2019, 11:27am EDT

Collapsing bullpens and non-existent offense were a theme throughout the system on the next to last day of play.

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RHP Rookie Davis (1-6, 5.76 ERA in 58 IP) was removed from the 40 man roster and outright to Triple-A Indianapolis. He made five appearances, including one start, with the Pirates, allowing eight runs in ten and two thirds innings.

Games

Triple-A

Indianapolis (66-74) beaten 8-2 at Louisville (59-80)

Starter Alex McRae (7-8, 5.20 ERA in 114 ¹⁄₃ IP) lasted only an inning, surrendering three runs on four hits and a walk while fanning two.

1B Will Craig (247/325/434) got a run back with a solo blast in the second, his 23rd of the year, but the bullpen kept throwing gas on the fire as Jesus Liranzo (5.03 ERA in 59 IP), Montana DuRapau (2.14 ERA, 57 K’s in 46 ¹⁄₃ IP) and Dovydas Neverauskas (4.83 ERA, 75 K’s in 54 IP) all got knocked around.

The Indians collected only four hits and a walk while going down on strikes eleven times.

Double-A

Altoona (69-70) blanked 3-0 at Harrisburg (75-63)

Pedro Vasquez (9-6, 3.06 ERA in 132 ¹⁄₃ IP) had a strong start, allowing just one run in seven innings one four hits and three walks, but that run was enough to tag him with the loss as his Curve teammates could only muster two hits en route to fanning thirteen times.

Harrisburg starter Mario Sanchez (10-7, 3.82 ERA in 127 ¹⁄₃ IP), a 24 year old out of Venezuela who’s been in the Nationals’ system since 2012, didn’t give up a hit let alone a run in his seven innings, striking out ten while walking two.

High-A

Bradenton at St. Lucie cancelled.

Low-A

Greensboro (79-58) loses 7-3 at Charleston, West Virginia (68-70)

Steven Jennings (7-12, 4.71 ERA in 130 IP) struck out eight without a walk over five innings, but four straight hits with two outs in the fourth saddled him with three runs and the loss.

LF Jack Herman (260/341/469) slammed a double and a solo homer, his 13th, as the Grasshopper whiffed thirteen times.

Short Season A

Morgantown, West Virginia (40-35) blasted 11-1 in a rain shortened 7 innings at Mahoning Valley (36-39)

The Black Bears lost big at Mahoning Valley but Batavia also lost to last place Auburn for the second straight day, leaving the two teams still tied atop the division with one game left to play for both teams. However, West Virginia owns all the tie-breakers against both Batavia and State College, in third place a game back, so a Black Bear victory on Monday will wrap up their playoff spot regardless of what Batavia or State College does.

Starter J.C. Flowers (4.30 ERA in 29 ¹⁄₃ IP) pitched well, his only runs allowed coming in the third inning on an error and a home run. He allowed only three hits and a walk in five innings, striking out two.

In the top of the fifth, a double by 2B Cory Wood (236/333/337) and a single by 1B Will Matthiessen (224/309/346) left West Virginia only a run down, but relievers Michael Flynn and Trey McGough (3.86 ERA, 41 K’s in 32 ²⁄₃ IP) were blasted for nine runs over the sixth and seventh innings before rain forced an end to play.

The Black Bears had only three hits as they fanned twelve times without a walk.

Advanced Rookie (Playoffs)

Bristol (1-2) eliminated by 7-5 loss at Johnson City (2-1)

The bullpen couldn’t hold a 4-3 as the Cardinals scored twice in both the sixth and seventh innings to eliminate the Pirates from the first round of the playoffs.

Johnson City jumped off to a 3-0 lead in the fourth off Bristol starter Adrian Florencio (4.75 ERA in 47 ¹⁄₃ IP), who gave up five hits and a walk in three and two thirds innings, but Bristol bounced back to take the lead with four runs in the top of the fifth and a two-run double by 2B Josh Bissonette (266/343/356) followed three pitches later by a two-run homer by DH Aaron Shackelford (274/339/491)