It’s taken Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Tsung-Che Cheng a while to get his feet under him with Double-A Altoona, but the 22-year-old is starting to find his groove.
Cheng has hits in eight-straight games and is batting .309 in the month of July. On Sunday, Cheng finally hit his first home run with the Curve.
On June 22, Cheng was promoted to Altoona from High-A Greensboro, where he hit .308 with a .981 OPS in 57 games.
Cheng was joined by these Pirates’ prospects as the standouts as July’s minor league action wrapped up on Sunday afternoon.
Indianapolis (48-53)
2B Aaron Shackelford
LHP Cam Alldred
Alldred’s efforts on the mound and Shackelford’s at the plate helped Indianapolis cruise to an 11-3 win over the Louisville Bats.
Though they aren’t considered Pirates’ prospects anymore, a handful of familiar faces had big games for the Indians.
Altoona (44-48)
2B Tsung-Che Cheng
1B Jacob Gonzalez
Cheng and Gonzalez each homered but Altoona was defeated 4-3 in walk-off fashion against the Harrisburg Senators.
Matt Fraizer had two hits and drew a walk while Pirates prospect Aaron Shortridge allowed three runs (two earned) in 5.1 innings pitched.
Greensboro (48-45)
3B Francisco Acuna
RHP Jack Carey
Despite Acuna’s three hits and Carey’s dominance out of the bullpen, Greensboro fell 7-2 to the Winston-Salem Dash.
Pirates prospect Jack Brannigan was on base twice with a single and a walk and stole a base.
Bradenton (56-39)
RHP Wilber Dotel
3B Jesus Castillo
Castillo’s efforts with the bat backed Dotel’s five strong innings for Bradenton in their 7-1 win over the St. Lucie Mets.
Pirates prospect Deivis Nadal was on base three times, scored twice and drove in a run in the win. Termarr Johnson drew two more walks, giving him 72 in 75 games this season.
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