Pittsburgh jumped on top in the opening round when Starling Marte lasered a triple to left off Jon Lester and come home an out later when Brock Holt, playing third for Boston, made a nifty play on a Cutch grounder but only had one play, to first. The Bucs loaded the sacks in the second with two down, but this time Marte flew out to right.
Jeff Locke finally cracked in the third. With two down, Pedro Ciriaco singled and Holt walked - the two ex-Bucs are battling for a bench spot in Boston - and Jonny Gomes doubled in a run to tie the game. The fourth went by with a little noise but no runs for both clubs, and it was time to call on the bullpens.
The Pirates beat up knuckleballer Steve Wright in the fifth and sixth, scoring five times. Cutch and Pedro had the RBI in the fifth, while Clint Barmes, Jose Tabata and Brad Hawpe produced runs in the next frame. Jared Hughes tossed a 1-2-3 fifth, but Jonathan Sanchez couldn't make it out of his inning. With two down and a runner on second, a walk, sharp single and another walk brought in a tally and jammed the bases. Clint Hurdle tapped his right arm for Phil Irwin, who got Ciriaco on a fly to center and hung around to toss a scoreless seventh.
The Bucs added another pair in their seventh on doubles by Jared Goedert and Lucas May and a single from Carlos Paulino to make it 8-2. Pittsburgh put up another point in the eighth when Rubby De La Rosa threw away a grounder hit by a hustling JT, who later came in on an Alex Presley bouncer. Vin Mazzaro tossed a clean frame.
The Pirates wasted a leadoff double by Matt Hague in the ninth. Boston got their last run off Brooks Brown, who gave up back-to-back opening knocks and a grounder to bring home the last Bosox score. It was a good day in the office today. They'll host Tampa tomorrow at home.
- Starling Marte and JT alternated at the leadoff spot and each scored a pair of runs, while Cutch had two RBI to lead the club. Locke went four frames, giving up a run on three hits and two walks with three whiffs.
- Jonathan Sanchez has walked seven batters in 3-1/3 innings so far this spring.
- Andrew Miller of The Fantasy Fix profiles Pirate righty Jameson Taillon.
- Happy Birthday, Clint Barmes. The SS turned 34 today.
'Twould seem the Pirates are bound and determined to give the fifth starter's job to Jeff Locke. Hey, he's been more durable than Kyle McPherson, even if McPherson to my eyes has the higher big league ceiling provided he can stay healthy. I still say Justin Wilson is far and away the best prospect among the three names in this comment, but he seems to be persona non grata---which I don't pretend to begin to comprehend given that the guy threw TWO no-hitters in Triple A last season!
ReplyDeleteAdd in the fact that they continue to bring in junkheap reclamation projects even when they have some young arms who need to play in the big leagues or be traded, and I don't get what this front office is doing sometimes. To be sure, Opie and Co are demonstrably more competent than any Pirates GM at least since Ted Simmons. But....yoi and double yoi.
Yah, they did OD collecting iffy guys, Will. I had hopes that since Sanchez was hurt last season that he'd be a bounce back-guy, but that doesn't look like that's happening. JK is already hurt...sheesh.
ReplyDeleteI dunno; maybe they're trying to evaluate the Indy trio before making any moves - traditionally, spring trades take shape a week or so before the season. And they have some pitchers and probably an OF'er or two with some value.
That still leaves Karstens, Liriano and Morton all returning at various times; can't explain what their gonna do when they all are ready.