From Mirror reports
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - With a Pirates hat on his head, Gerrit Cole got a chance to display his arm on a national stage Sunday in Kansas City.
The first overall selection in the 2011 MLB draft, Cole pitched one inning in this year's MLB All-Star Futures Game, which was held Sunday at Kauffman Stadium. Surrounded by other highly-touted prospects, Cole, who is currently on the Curve's roster, threw in the second inning and allowed two runs on one hit as he gave up a two-out home run to Cubs prospect Jae-Hoon Ha.
Cole's outing started out very well. The righty retired the first two batters he faced on seven pitches - including a strike out of the first hitter - and got ahead in the count against Jesus Aguilar, the third man that came to the plate in the inning.
But Aguilar, a first baseman in Cleveland's farm system, eventually drew a walk, which set the stage for Ha, who drove a home run to right field on a fastball that Cole left up in the strike zone.
Cole, who hit triple digits on the radar gun Sunday as he hit 100 mph with his heater, struck out the next batter he saw to end the inning. The final line on the 21-year-old: one inning pitched, two earned runs, one hit, two strikeouts, one walk, and 21 pitches (14 strikes).
The Futures Game - which pitted the best young American players against the top prospects from the rest of the world - turned into a slugfest and the U.S. team ended up pounding the World side, 17-5, before a crowd of 40,095. Nick Castellanos, a prospect in Detroit's organization who currently plays in the Eastern League for Double-A Erie, went 3-for-4 with a three-run homer for the U.S. was named the game's MVP.
Four innings after Cole pitched, Pittsburgh's second-highest rated prospect, Jameson Taillon threw for the U.S.
Taillon, who currently pitches for High-A Bradenton, surrendered a pair doubles which allowed a run to score in the frame. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 MLB draft, Taillon ended up throwing 17 pitches in the inning and did not strike out or walk a batter.
The Futures Game was broadcast nationally on ESPN2 and both Cole and Taillon drew some praise from former Major League pitcher and current analyst Rick Sutcliffe.
"You just think about the key to the Pirates success this year being their starting rotation and that depth," Sutcliffe said on the broadcast. "The cavalry is on its way with Cole and now Taillon."
In addition to being represented by their two top pitching prospects, the Pirates had coach Tom Filer on hand. Filer is the pitching coach for Triple-A Indianapolis and was in the dugout for the U.S. team.
