Saturday, March 23, 2019

Split City Saturday: Phils Here, Boston There, Lineups & Pitchers; Frankie & Melky Make Roster; Yesterday's Recap & Notes

Game: The Bucs and Phillies mix it up in Bradenton, with a 1:05 game time for the Pirates last home game of the spring. It will be aired by AT&T SportsNet. Game #2 of the day is against the Red Sox at Fenway South in Fort Myers. It's also a 1:05 first pitch and will be carried by 93.7 The Fan. Both games are on tape delay on MLB Network (Boston 4PM, Philly 6AM Sunday).

Lineups: Philly - Pablo Reyes 2B, JB Shuck CF, Corey Dickerson LF, Fran Cervelli C, Will Craig 31B, Lonnie Chisenhall RF, Pat Kivlehan 3B, Oneil Cruz SS, Jordan Lyles 1P. Patchwork infield, with Cruz being a surprise starter today.
BoSox - Kevin Newman 2B, Ke'Bryan Hayes 3B, Colin Moran 1B, Steven Baron C, Bryan Reynolds LF, Jared Oliva CF, Lucas Tancas DH, Bligh Madris RF, Alfredo Reyes SS (Jameson Taillon P). Looks more like a back field lineup for the roadtrip.

Ke'Bryan Hayes - minor league camp,major league lineup; go figure (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Pitchers: Philly - RHP Jordan Lyles v RHP Zach Eflin, followed by Felipe Vázquez, Keone Kela, Kyle Crick and Richard Rodríguez. Lyles could be fighting for the fifth starting spot today as Nick Kingham has been coming on lately.
BoSox - RHP Jameson Taillon v RHP Nathan Eovaldi, with Rookie Davis and Tyler Lyons on deck.

Roster News: The Pirates announced that Francisco Liriano and Melky Cabrera have made the team. They have to add them both to the 40-man roster, which is full. They can slide Edgar Santana to the 60 day IL and a bubble guy has to go.

Yesterday's Game: The comeback kids ran out of rallies yesterday. Falling behind 3-0, they put up runs in the seventh and ninth on RBI knocks by Steve Baron and Pablo Reyes, but fell short, 3-2, to Minnesota. The pitching wasn't very sharp as Bucco hurlers gave up nine hits and eight walks, but the Twinkies weren't much in the clutch, stranding 13. Frankie gave up a run on three hits, three walks and three whiffs in 1-2/3 IP in his last outing before rug-cutting time. Jung Ho Kang (who handled his three chances at short flawlessly) and Reyes, who is scrapping for a final roster spot, led the Buc batters with a pair of raps, with each banging out a double.

Notes:
  • JHK got his first single of the spring, to go with two doubles and six homers. He's hitting .231.
  • The extensions continue - Chris Sale signed a five-year deal with Boston, while Justin Verlander is reported to be ironing out a two-year agreement.

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