Pirates Prospects

Pirates Prospect Watch: Unlikely Hero Saves it For Indy

Published

7 months ago

September 23, 2023

The Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A squad had to fight tooth and nail to earn their 8-7 victory over Rochester on Friday night.

By just looking at the score, you would’ve expected a back-and-forth affair, but it was far from it until the seventh inning. Wil Crowe pitched six scoreless innings, and Indianapolis built a 4-0 lead.

In the seventh inning, recent AFL selection J.C. Flowers entered the game.

Flowers lasted just 0.1 innings and allowed six earned runs, giving the Red Wings a 6-4 lead. Travis MacGregor came in relief and allowed a run himself that inning.

With the score 7-4, the Indians chopped the lead a tad in the bottom of the inning, getting a run back thanks to a Ryan Vilade RBI double, making it 7-5.

The magic for the Indians occurred in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Vinny Capra started with a lead-off single, and then Josh Bissonette and Grant Koch drew walks, giving way to Chris Owings with the bases loaded and nobody out.

In a 1-2 count, Owings smashed a 106 mph rope to center field, which resulted in a three-RBI triple, giving the Indians a permanent 8-7 lead and the eventual victory after Osvaldo Bido closed the game out.

Indianapolis (69-77)

SS Chris Owings

Game stats: 2-5, a triple, and three-RBIs
Season stats: .241/.349/.449, 15 homers, three triples, 15 doubles, and 41 RBIs (316 at-bats, or 86 games)

CF Ryan Vilade

Game stats: 3-4, a homer, run scored, and three RBIs
Season stats: .265/.367/.376, six homers, four triples, 22 doubles, and 55 RBIs (431 at-bats, or 120 games at Triple-A)

The Indians returned on the winning track Friday night after a thrilling 8-7 win over Rochester. Wil Crowe came out of nowhere and pitched six scoreless innings, only giving up four hits and one walk.

Nick Gonzales continued to stay hot in September with his sixth homer this month. In addition, Gonzales is slashing .352/.405/.761 with an OPS of 1.166 in September.

The good news for Pittsburgh Pirates fans and Nick Gonzales is that he’s seeing breaking balls better. Gonzales hammered a slider left on the outer third in his second at-bat. In addition, the exit velocity was 98.7 mph and traveled 389 feet.

Every ball that was put into play for Gonzales was 90+ mph in exit velocity. In addition, all but one at-bat had a ball put into play, and Gonzales went 2-5 on the night with an RBI.