Mitch Keller and the Pirates didn’t take a lot of time dispatching the Colorado Rockies last night. In a game lasting less than two hours, Keller shut down the Colorado offense. Joe Block has the story.
Keller says he and catcher Austin Hedges had the right plan of attack against the Rockies’ lineup.
Hedges says the Bucs knew Keller could go all the way.
Hedges says Keller was dealing on every pitch for the Pirates.
Before the game, the Pirates recalled infielder Chris Owings from Indianapolis and sent down infielder Mark Mathias, who they said needs to work on regaining his strength from a shoulder injury. Owings was plugged into the starting lineup at shortstop and Rodolfo Castro, who had been playing shortstop in place of the injured Oneil Cruz, was moved back to his natural position at second base.
The Pirates called up Luis Ortiz to start tonight in place of the injured Vince Velasquez, who is on the 15-day injured list with an elbow injury. Ortiz was placed on the taxi squad and the Bucs will need to make a move today to add him to the active roster. Ortiz was 2-1 with a 2.23 ERA, with opponents hitting just .174 off him at Indianapolis in seven starts. The Rockies will start right-hander Connor Seabold [0-0, 5.30 ERA]. It’s a 6:10 airtime on 100.9 The Groundhog.
ALTOONA CURVE
Returning from two weeks on the road at Reading and Richmond, the Altoona Curve open a six-game homestand tonight against Akron. Right-hander Justin Meis will get the start for the Curve, who were 6-4 with two games rained out on the road trip.
The Curve are 13-12 and trail Richmond by two-and-a-half games in the Eastern League Southwest Division. Akron is in third place, a game-and-a-half behind the Curve.
