Friday: Split Squads v Philly/Toronto, Yesterday's Game, Notes

Game: Pittsburgh goes to Clearwater and Spectrum Field to take on the Phillies. The game starts at 1:05 and will be aired on 93.7 The Fan. A second Pirates squad rolls to Dunedin Stadium to face the Blue Jays for a 1:07 clash in the first split squad action of the spring and can be followed on MLB Gameday.

The Kevins man the middle (image AT&T SportsNet - 2018)

Lineups: @Philly - Lonnie Chisenhall RF,  Jung Ho Kang 3B, Melky Cabrera DH, Jose Osuna LF, JB Shuck CF, Kevin Newman SS, Kevin Kramer 2B, Will Craig 1B, Jake Stallings C (Nick Kingham P). Backups include Ke'Bryan Hayes, Ji-hwan Bae & Arden Pabst.
@Toronto - Pat Kivlehan RF, Fran Cervelli DH, Colin Moran 3B, Josh Bell 1B, Bryan Reynolds CF,  Jason Martin LF, Cole Tucker SS, Christian Kelley C, Stephen Alemais 2B (Rookie Davis P). Subs include Travis Swaggerty and Calvin Mitchell.

Pitchers: RHP Nick Kingham goes against the Phils RHP Drew Anderson. Next in line are LHP Tyler Lyons, RHP JT Brubaker and RHP Dario Agrazal.
In the Toronto matchup, RHP Rookie Davis gets the nod v RHP Aaron Sanchez. His pitching mates are righties Michael Feliz, Jesus Liranzo, Blake Weiman & Eduardo Vera.

Nick on the bump (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Yesterday's Game: Jung Ho Kang stayed en fuego with a first inning solo shot off JA Happ; the Bronx Bombers had a quick response when Tulo banged a three-run shot off Steven Brault. The Pirates came right back to tie it up in the second on JB Shuck's two-run blast. Brault, who was sharp in his first outing, walked the first three batters. Geoff  Hartlieb came in and was sharp; he coaxed a run-scoring DP ball from Aaron Judge to escape with just one score for the bad guys. It was one of those afternoons, though. Kang walked, Corey Dickerson, making his first spring start, singled, and both scored on hot-hitting Pat Kivlehan's two-out double to retake the lead. Hartlieb stranded a double to put up the day's first zero. Brandon Wadell gave up a tying homer to Tyler Wade and left the bases jammed with Yankees before getting the third out in the fourth.

Then it got quiet for a spell. The Pirates loaded the bases in the sixth with an out but couldn't push anyone across. The Yankees plated twice in the seventh. Elvis Escobar gave up a single and bopped a batter. The free runner cost him when LJ Mazzilli's (yep, he's Lee's son) two-out double chased them both home. The NYY's added another in the eighth off Matt Eckelman, who tossed for Bradenton last year. Pablo Reyes stroked a long ball in the ninth to make the final score 8-6, Pinstripes.

Notes:

• The Yankees ran out a pretty strong lineup yesterday, with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Troy Tulowitzki, Greg Bird and Miguel Andujar. They also had old Bucco C Ryan Lavarnway in the starting nine as the DH.
• The Bryce Harper drama ended as he inked a 13-year/$330M deal with the front-runner Phils, the largest MLB agreement in dollar amount ever signed. He'll be there for awhile; the contract is reported to have a no-trade, no-opt out clause.