Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Malcom Nuñez sure picked a good time to hit his first home run of the season for Triple-A Indianapolis.
The 22-year-old slugger hasn’t shown his typical power so far this season, but his grand slam for the Indians might be what he needs to get going at the plate.
In other news, Tsung-Che Cheng continues to impress at the plate with a couple more hits while a couple of pitchers again looked good on the mound.
Here are Sunday’s notable performers as three of the four Pirates’ affiliates were victorious.
Indianapolis (7-8)
1B Malcom Nuñez
RHP Osvaldo Bido
Nuñez’s first home run of the season was a big one as his grand slam propelled Indianapolis to a 7-0 shutout win over the St. Paul Saints. Bido came into the game in the third inning and continued his excellent start to the season.
Pirates’ prospect Travis Swaggerty was on base twice, stole a base and scored a pair of runs and Carmen Mlodzinski struck out two in a scoreless ninth.
Altoona (3-6)
RF Henry Davis
2B Domingo Leyba
Whole both Davis and Leyba homered, the Curve were defeated by the Erie SeaWolves 7-3. Pirates’ prospect Josh Palacios also had a pair of hits in the loss.
Greensboro (7-2)
2B Tsung Che-Cheng
RHP Michell Miliano
Pirates’ prospect Michell Miliano continued his strong season and earned his first win of the year as Greensboro took down the Jersey Shore BlueClaws 5-2. Cheng stayed hot at the plate and increased his batting average to .300.
Jackson Glenn had two hits and an RBI while Eddy Yean earned the save.
Bradenton (5-4)
3B Jesus Castillo
CF Tres Gonzalez
Castillo and Gonzalez were each productive for Bradenton in their 7-5 win over the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Both players have been performing well at the plate so far this season.
Pirates’ prospect Jauri Custodio hit his first home run of the season while Shalin Polanco and Alexander Mojica combined to reach base safely seven times.
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