Pirates Prospects Have Stellar Plate Performance in AFL
A pair of Pittsburgh Pirates were at the heart of a slugfest in the Arizona Fall League.
Pirates catching prospect Geovanny Planchart and infield prospect Kervin Pichardo combined to go 7-10 with two home runs, six RBIs and scored three runs in the Scottsdale Scorpions' 11-10 loss to the Peoria Javelinas on Wednesday. Pirates pitching prospect Brandan Bidois pitched an inning and allowed a run, walked two batters and struck out one while not allowing a single hit.
Pirates No. 3 prospect Termarr Johnson didn't play in the loss.
Sammy Siani pinch-hit in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and got a single to reach base as the tying run. He advanced to second base but was stranded there as New York Mets infield prospect Jett Williams struck out swinging to end the game.
Planchart was 4-5 with a home run, three RBIs and a run scored. The Pirates' catching prospect opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with an RBI single. He tallied another single in the bottom of the fourth inning before striking out in the bottom of the sixth.
Planchart got another single in the bottom of the eighth inning, then hit a two-run home run to left field in the bottom of the ninth inning, his second of the AFL. Planchart's homer made it 11-10 after the Scorpions trailed by six runs entering the inning.
Pichardo grounded out in his first at-bat of the game before hitting a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning to extend Scottsdale's lead to 3-0. After popping out and flying out in his next two at-bats, he hit an RBI single to start the scoring in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Bidois entered the game in the top of the seventh inning with the Scorpions leading 5-3. The Pirates' right-handed got into immediate trouble, as back-to-back walks mixed in with a wild pitch put runners on first and third with no outs. Bidois induced a double play to clear the bases with Peoria plating a run and he got a strikeout to escape the inning.
Scottsdale (5-8) faces the Mesa Solar Sox (7-6) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. ET.
