Saturday, March 20, 2010

Bucs Bumble

Charlie Morton allowed three runs (two earned) and four hits in 4-2/3 innings of work, with three K's and two walks. But it wasn't enough as the Pirates dropped another Grapefruit League game, 5-2, to the Baltimore Orioles.

Chris Jakubauskas gave up two runs the eighth to pretty much ice the game for the O's. Jeremy Powell faced a batter, and DJ Carrasco went two scoreless frames, giving up a hit and walk while fanning one.

The Bucs had nine hits, with Ryan Church and Luke Carlin each notching a pair, but went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position. They scored on a Garrett Jones sac fly and an error after loading the bases with no one out in the opening frame.

They had one more chance, but with two on and one out in the eighth, Brandon Moss tapped into a DP. He was 0-for-4 and left six runners on base. Spring stats don't mean much, but geez...

Starling Marte and Shelby Ford were today's minor-league backups. Marte got a broken bat single, and Ford singled, too.

-- The Pirates take on the Tampa Bay Rays tomorrow in Bradenton. Daniel McCutchen will make his first spring start; guess Kevin Hart is finally being sent a message. McCutchen bumped Zach Duke, who will work a minor league game instead tomorrow in Pirate City.

He’ll be followed by Vinnie Chulk, Octavio Dotel, Chris Jakubauskas, Brian Bass and Brian Burres.

-- Ramon Vazquez, who the Pirates had been showcasing of late, is day-to-day with a bruised shoulder after blocking a bad-hop grounder yesterday.

-- Tyler Kepler of the New York Times has a piece on Garrett Jones and his baseball journey.

-- Dave van Dyck of the Chicago Tribune has a story about John Grabow and his value as a set-up guy for the Cubs.

-- Alex Speier of Sportsradio WEEI in Boston has an article that revisits and evaluates the Jay Bay trade.

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