The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 4-3 to the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizen’s Bank Park on Monday evening in game one of a two game exhibition series.
Left-hander Tony Watson got the “start” for the Pirates against Philadelphia. Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle elected to go with all bullpen arms against the Phillies. Watson allowed one run on one hit over an inning of work.
Juan Pierre hit a line drive to left field to start the first inning, Alex Presley dove to make the catch, but the ball bounced off his glove for a double. Pierre advanced to third base on the deep fly out to center field by Placido Polanco. With one out, shortstop Jimmy Rollins hit a sac fly to plate the first run of the game.
Right-hander Evan Meek followed Watson in relief. Shane Victorino took the first pitch into the right-center field gap for a stand up triple. The Phillies quickly took a 2-0 lead after Ty Wiggington hit a RBI groundout.
The Phillies tacked on a run off the Pirates relievers for the third straight frame. Pierre reached base for the second time in as many at-bats after getting hit by a pitch by reliever Juan Cruz in the 3rd. He swiped second and scored on a two-out double by Rollins.
After right-hander Joe Blanton tossed three perfect frames, the Pirates were able to plate two runs off him in the fourth inning. With one out, Jose Tabata singled to right and stole his third base of the spring. Neil Walker connected for a two-out RBI single to right. He advanced to second on the throwing error by Hunter Pence in right field. Garrett Jones followed with a RBI double to score the second run of the inning.
With two outs in the 6th, All-Star Center Fielder Andrew McCutchen connected for a solo-homer off reliever Pat Misch to tie the game at 3. It marked McCutchen’s third long ball during Grapefruit League action this spring.
The Phillies plated the eventual winning run off right-hander Ryan Beckman (minors) in the 7th inning. Wigginton lead off the frame with a single and scored after Freddy Glavis tripled to center field in the Pirates 4-3 loss.
Game Notes:
- Relief: Evan Meek: IP, H, R; Juan Cruz: IP, H, R, HB; Joel Hanrahan: IP, K; Jason Grilli: IP, H, K; Chris Resop: IP, H, K; Ryan Beckman (minors): 2P, 2H, R, 2K
- Garrett Jones tallied his team-leading 17th RBI; Jose Tabata extended his hitting streak to six games; he has gone 8-for-20 (.400) in the streak; Joel Hanrahan has now struckout 13 batters in his 9.0 innings of work.
Tuesday Game Info:
- The Pittsburgh Pirates will face the Philadelphia Phillies at 7:05 in their final game of the spring. Right-hander James McDonald is scheduled to start for the Bucs against lefty Cole Hamels.
