Bosox Bombs Drop Bucs 5-1; Today's Lineup & Notes

It may be warming up in Florida, but the Buc bats are still in a polar vortex as Boston whupped Pittsburgh 5-1. AJ went 2-1/3 frames and walked three; after reaching his pitch count, Ryan Beckman from the minor league camp was tossed into the fire to finish the frame. Big Papi greeted him with a three-run bomb (two of AJ's walks were on base), Kung Fu Panda stroked another, and that was about all she wrote for the day. The Pirates went 1-for-9 with RISP and stranded ten, scoring their only run on a Cutch sac fly in the first. Elias Diaz, Nick Kingham, Arquimedes Caminero and Bobby LaFromboise continued their strong spring performances.

Bobby LaFromboise via MLB.com

Today's Game: The Bucs host the Minnesota Twins at 1:05 in Bradenton, with the game webcast on pirates.com (no radio again). Casey Sadler makes his third start - he's gone five hitless IP so far this spring - against Ervin Santana.

The Lineup: Josh Harrison 3B, Gregory Polanco RF, Cutch CF, Neil Walker 2B, Pedro DH, Jung Ho Kang SS, Andrew Lambo 1B, Francisco Cervelli C, Sean Rodriguez LF.
The Bench: 18 man bench again.
The Pitchers: Tony Watson, Jared Hughes, Radhames Liz, Rob Scahill, Josh Wall.

The Pirates are hoping to loosen up the lumber today. But no worries yet; we'll see what the sticks look like in a couple of weeks when the roster takes shape.

---

• Tom Singer of MLB.com takes a look at Nick Kingham, who is trying to work his way into the sixth starter role along with Casey Sadler, Radhames Liz and Clayton Richard.
• Jayson Stark of ESPN explains that AJ Burnett is back in his comfort zone with the Bucs.
• Stetson Allie turns 24 today, and the fireballer turned slugger is featured in an article by Stephen Nesbitt of the Post Gazette. 
• If you're the type who is curious about spring stats, the Bucs have them posted on their site.
• Will Ferrell completed his Cactus League ten games at 9 positions in 5 ballparks day without mishap, boosting his own brand and that of the charity "Cancer for College."