Pirates minor league affiliates went 2-2 on Sunday with promising development from Bubba Chandler in Greensboro, and continued lights-out hitting from Josiah Sightler in Bradenton.
Here are the notable performances.
OF Canaan Smith-Njigba
2B Alika Williams
Luis Ortiz suffered through another dismal start in Indy’s 9-4 loss to the Iowa Cubs. The young pitcher allowed four runs across five innings and struck out five batters. Indianapolis did their best to recover from an early 5-1 deficit, scoring three runs in the eighth inning, but the Cubs put them to bed with four more runs in the bottom of the frame.
RHP Braxton Ashcraft
LHP Omar Cruz
Altoona managed just six baserunners and no extra base hits in their 1-0 win over the Reading Fightin Phils. Luckily for the Curve, three of those six baserunners came in one inning, so they managed to scrape the decisive run across. Oliver Garcia walked the bases loaded with no outs in the ninth, but pulled a Houdini to escape with the save.
RHP Bubba Chandler
LF Luke Brown
The Grasshoppers knocked around the Wilmington Blue Rocks 8-1. Bubba Chandler pitched lights out for the second straight start, putting together the beginning of an excellent second half turn around. Right fielder Will Matthiessen hit a solo homer, and the Grasshoppers scored four runs apiece in first and fifth inning rallies.
3B Yordany De Los Santos
1B Josiah Sightler
A blown save turned into a full on meltdown as Bradenton surrendered a 7-3 lead after an eight-run ninth inning from the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Josiah Sightler continued his red-hot hitting, but the Marauders couldn’t regroup in time to salvage the game in an 11-7 loss.
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