PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Crazy game for left fielder Ben Gamel as the Pirates won their second straight, 3-2 over Detroit Tuesday.
Gamel allowed Detroit to take the lead after fielding a ball in the left field corner as he was winding up to throw, his arm hit the wall. It caused the ball to dribble out of his hand into the infield and the run to score.
In the top of the sixth, Gamel made a running catch and slammed into the same left field wall. In the bottom of the inning, had a 2-run single to give the Pirates the lead. The veteran had three hits on the night.
“He fits right into our culture,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Gamel. “This guy plays hard. He has intensity to him. He plays the game exactly the way we want our culture to be.”
Dillon Peters started going 4 innings, giving up both runs. Every Pirates reliever allowed at least one base runner, yet combined for five scoreless innings.
The teams combined to leave 22 runners on base.
AA Star Start
Roansy Contreras made his second start since coming off the injured list with a forearm strain. Contreras limited to three innings allowing a run on one hit with no walks and four strikeouts against Erie Tuesday.
For the season, the 21-year-old right-hander is 3-1 with a 2.29 ERA with 11 walks and 72 strikeouts in 51 innings.
Rudolfo Castro with a pair of hits, shortstop Oneil Cruz 1 for 3 in a 4-2 loss.
Not Just Hoy From Yankees
While Hoy Park made it to the majors first and had an instant impact with the Pirates. The other player acquired for Clay Holmes continues his hot hitting.
Third baseman Diego Castillo batting .300 with 6 HR and 21 RBI since the trade. The 23-year-old also has just 11 strikeouts to 16 walks in 33 games with the Pirates at AA and now at AAA.
Castillo 2 for 5 on Tuesday in an 11-4 Indians win over Louisville. Jared Oliva went 3 for 5. Tucupita Marcano, Bligh Madris and Christian Bethancourt all had two hits. Max Kranick gave up a run over six innings.
Burrows Returns
Right-hander Michael Burrows made his first start since July 13 on Tuesday for High A Greensboro. Burrows pitched two shutout innings allowing a hit and a walk. The 21-year-old, 11th round pick in 2018 is returning from an oblique strain.
Burrows is 2-2 with a 2.15 ERA in a dozen starts in 2021. He struck out 63 in 36 innings with 17 walks.
Shortstop Aaron Shackelford hit his 21st home run, tripled and drove in 7. Centerfielder Matt Gorski hit his 16th home run. Jared Triolo with his 25th and 26th doubles. Catcher Blake Sabol went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and hitting .301 for the season. Nick Gonzales 1 for 3 with a pair of walks.
The Grasshoppers scored 11 runs in the 6th inning for the 70th win of the season, final 21-4. It’s the 9th game since August 21 Greensboro scored at least 8 runs.
Head Games
Major struggles for big parts of the season for the centerfielder coming over in the Joe Musgrove trade. 20-year-old Hudson Head has fought back to get in the top 20 in the Low A Southeast League in doubles, hits, RBI and sixth in walks.
Head with a pair of doubles for Bradenton Tuesday in an 19-7 win over Clearwater.
Shortstop Dariel Lopez hit his ninth homer and now has 57 RBI. Catcher/outfielder Endy Rodriguez drove in four runs, now with 62 RBI. This year’s fifth round pick, third baseman Jackson Glenn went 2 for 3 with 3 walks and 3 runs scored and is hitting .381 to start his pro career.
Up Next
Mitch Keller makes his 19th start of the season. The confounding Keller pitched six scoreless innings in his last start and is 4-10 on the season with a 6.23 ERA. Final game of the Pirates series against the Tigers begins at 6:35 on 93.7 The Fan.