Pirates Pitching Prospect Bounces Back In AFL Start
After a pair of tough outings, Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Khristian Curtis found his form again in the Scottsdale Scorpions' 3-1 loss to the Salt River Rafters.
Curtis got the start and pitched four shutout innings, allowed just one hit, gave up one walk and struck out two batters en route to earning a no-decision. Curtis' performance was his second scoreless outing in the AFL. In the Scorpions' opening game, he pitched three innings and struck out two batters while not allowing a runner to reach base and earned the win.
Fellow Pirates prospects Termarr Johnson and Sammy Siani also played. Johnson, the Pirates' No. 3 prospect and MLB Pipeline's No. 75 prospect in baseball, was 0-2 with two walks and two strikeouts. Siani went 1-4 and drove in the lone run of the game for Scottsdale.
With the loss, the Scorpions have lost five in a row and eight of their last nine games.
Curtis sat down the first eight batters that he faced before running into some trouble in the top of the third inning after New York Yankees catching prospect Antonio Gomez singled and Yankees infield prospect Caleb Durbin walked to put runners on first and second with two outs. The Pirates' right-handed pitching prospect got Phillip Glasser to fly out to Siani to escape the jam.
Curtis got a pair of groundouts and a strikeout in his final inning of work.
Siani singled in his first at-bat before grounding out and flying out in his next two plate appearances. The Pirates' left-handed hitting outfield prospect came up with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and grounded into a fielder's choice with the Rafters (9-8) getting the force out at second base. New York Mets infield prospect Jacob Reimer came up as the game-winning run with runners on first and third and flew out to end the game.
Scottsdale (5-12) will look to bounce back on Tuesday when it faces the Peoria Javelinas (5-12) at 4:30 p.m. ET.
