Geez, it was ugly. Paul Maholm gave Pittsburgh four good innings against the O's, giving up a run on four hits and surviving a pair of Pirate errors. But backenders Joel Hanrahan and Evan Meek couldn't hold up their end of the deal, and the result was an 11-8 loss to Baltimore.
Hanrahan came on in fifth and was tagged for five straight hits after a leadoff walk. He was throwing nothing but heat; once Hanny mixed in a couple of off-speed offerings, he K'ed the last three batters consecutively. But by that time, it was 5-4, favor of the bad guys.
Meek followed and was welcomed just as rudely. He leaked three runs on two hits, two walks, and a Jason Jaramillo error (he threw through second base; no one covered). He struck out two.
Jeff Karstens gave up three more runs, all unearned, in the seventh, when the Orioles used a hit, walk and a Pedro Ciriaco boot to load the bases and then cashed in with consecutive two-out knocks.
Jaramillo had a pair of RBI; Matt Diaz, Garrett Jones, Corey Wimberly, Dusty Brown and John Bowker also drove in runs. Twelve Pirates recorded hits, including PH Andy Marte, who is now hitting .500. The hitters were also an excellent 7-for-11 RISP.
And all the fielding news wasn't horrendous; the infield turned three more DP's.
The go-go Bucs used their on-the-edge running game to tally a run when Jose Tabata went from first-to-third on an infield ball and scored when the throw got away. On the other side of the coin, Ronny Cedeno was caught stealing and picked off; he's had a rough couple of days adjusting to Hurdle's hurry-up style.
The Pirates and Rays will meet for the fifth time at 1:05PM in Port Charlotte. James McDonald is penciled in to pitch the first four innings while Wade Davis makes the start for Tampa Bay.
-- Ryan Doumit felt some soreness in his right oblique during BP yesterday, and is lasted as "day-to-day." But it may take him awhile to get back, as often the case with oblique injuries, and that will effectively kill any efforts the Bucs are making to move him in the spring.
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