Pirates earn series split, Esmerlyn Valdez continues to hit, Sammy Stafura stays hot

The Pittsburgh Pirates were able to come away with a 6-1 win against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday, earning a series split on the road.Jared Jones made his seventh start since coming off the injured list, allowing one run on two hits and two walks while striking out six batters. Carmen Mlodzinski came in and pitched three shutout innings, picking up his fifth win of the season.That gave way for Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery to pitch the eighth and ninth, respectively. They didn’t allow a hit or a walk, and combined to strike out four batters.Bucs On Deck is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Esmerlyn Valdez stayed hot, going 2-4 with a triple and three RBI. Nick Gonzales went 3-5 with two RBI, and Endy Rodriguez hit his fifth home run of the season. The Pirates now head to Washington for a three-game weekend series against the Nationals. Mitch Keller, Braxton Ashcraft, and Bubba Chandler are the three projected starters this weekend. Sammy Stafura continued to be hot at the plate, picking up four hits, including a double and a home run, in Greensboro’s 23-10 win over Bowling Green on Thursday.Acquired from the Cincinnati Reds in the Ke’Bryan Hayes trade, Stafura has reached base in 21 straight games going back to the start of May. He’s also recorded four straight multi-hit games and has homered in four of his last five. Despite a slow start while rehabbing with Bradenton, Stafura has his OPS up over .800 thanks to his recent play.Seth Hernandez made his first start of July, getting roughed up a bit at home against Bowling Green. In 3.2 innings pitched, Hernandez allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out seven. While he walked just one, he missed his spots on some of his pitches, which also led to the home run that eventually chased him from the game.Despite the outing, Hernandez still sports a 2.59 ERA this season, with 107 strikeouts over 66 innings pitched. He also picked off two baserunners, while also nearly notching a third. * RHP Enrique Quintana assigned to DSL Pirates Gold from DSL Pirates BlackTop Exit Velocity* Esmerlyn Valdez - PIT - 112.7 mph - Triple* Jhostynxon Garcia - IND - 110.8 mph - Double* Brandon Lowe - PIT - 109.8 mph - Lineout* Brandon Lowe - PIT - 106.6 mph - Single* Esmerlyn Valdez - PIT - 106.3 mph - Single* Ronny Simon - IND - 106.3 mph - DoubleTop Pitch Velocity* Jared Jones - PIT - 100.3 mph* Jared Jones - PIT - 100.2 mph* Jared Jones - PIT - 100.2 mph* Jared Jones - PIT - 100 mph* Jared Jones - PIT - 100 mphMost Whiffs* Seth Hernandez - GBO - 14* Jared Jones - PIT - 11* Noah Davis - IND - 11* Irwin Ramirez - BRD - 7* Dominic Perachi - ALT - 7* Joshua Loeschorn - ALT - 7* Carlson Reed - GBO - 7Support the site by becoming a paid member and get access to all of our premium content, including our top prospect list with complete player write-ups and video breakdowns, which come out weekly.It will also give access to my player feature articles from on-site trips.We have monthly and yearly plans available, with the latter costing an average of $4.16/month.Indianapolis Indians - 4 vs Omaha Storm Chasers - 2GamedayTop Hitter - Nick Cimillo: 1-3, R, 3 RBI, HRTop Pitcher - Mike Clevinger: 2 IP, KAltoona Curve - 10 vs Portland Sea Dogs - 3GamedayTop Hitter - Duce Gourson: 3-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB, HR, 3 SBTop Pitcher - Landon Tomkins: 2.2 IP, H, BB, 2 KGreensboro Grasshoppers - 23 vs Bowling Green Hot Rods - 10GamedayTop Hitter - Sammy Stafura: 4-6, 4 R, 4 RBI, 2B, HRTop Pitcher - Carlson Reed: 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 KBradenton Marauders - 6 vs Daytona Tortugas - 11GamedayTop Hitter - Antonio Pimentel: 2-5, R, RBI, 2B, 3BTop Pitcher - Noah Takacs: 0.2 IP, HFCL Pirates - 1 vs FCL Braves - 4GamedayTop Hitter - Darell Morel: 1-2, BB, 2 SBTop Pitcher - Dioris Martinez: 2 IP, 3 KDSL Pirates Black - SuspendedDSL Pirates Gold - 3 vs DSL Brewers - 9GamedayTop Hitter - Limanol Payero: 2-2, R, RBI, HRTop Pitcher - Yoslaniel Hernandez: 3 IP, H, ER, 5 BB, 2 K Get full access to Bucs On Deck at bucsondeck.substack.com/subscribe