In their final game of the Grapefruit League schedule, the Pittsburgh Pirates tied the Baltimore Orioles 1-1 in Sarasota. That gave the Pirates a 14-14 record, with three ties.
The Pirates scheduled three innings each for Trevor Williams, Nick Kingham and Steven Brault. All three pitched well, with Kingham allowing just one runner, while Brault gave up the lone run. They didn’t walk any batters and each of them picked up two strikeouts.
The Pirates got their only run early, as Jung Ho Kang connected for his seventh home run with one out in the top of the first inning. The Pirates had their chances to score, but couldn’t come up with big hits. They had a total of nine hits, including doubles from Pablo Reyes, Josh Bell and Jacob Stallings.
Monday’s Action
The Pirates are in Houston for their final two spring games before heading to Cincinnati for Opening Day. Both games are radio only, beginning tonight with an 8:10 PM EST start time.
Here’s today’s lineup:
- Adam Frazier 2B
- Starling Marte CF
- Corey Dickerson LF
- Josh Bell 1B
- Francisco Cervelli C
- Jung Ho Kang 3B
- Lonnie Chisenhall RF
- Melky Cabrera DH
- Erik Gonzalez SS
Felipe Vazquez, Keone Kela, Richard Rodriguez and Nick Burdi will all pitch today. We should see Kyle Crick as well.
Besides the players still on the active spring roster, the Pirates also brought along Christian Kelley, Will Craig, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Alfredo Reyes and Adrian Valerio for the bench during this two-game series. In the bullpen, Brandon Waddell, Matt Eckelman, Geoff Hartlieb, Montana DuRapau, Tate Scioneaux, Alex McRae and Eduardo Vera also came along. Vera was reportedly going to start on Tuesday, but it appears that Brandon Maurer will start, though he won’t go more than 1-2 innings. You would assume that the Pirates want to make sure he faces MLB hitters, getting to them before they are removed from the game.
Joe Musgrove threw six innings at Pirate City today. He threw 80 pitches, then finished his night in the bullpen.
Here’s an update from the Pirates:
Jose Osuna Update: Jose did not make the trip to Houston due to lower neck discomfort. He will return to Pittsburgh this week for further examination.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 25, 2019
Lonnie Chisenhall left after getting hit in the hand with a pitch in the sixth. It was at the point when regulars leave the game, so it could be nothing. Probably have an update in the morning and an article only if it’s something noteworthy.
Tuesday’s Action
Tuesday is the final spring game. Pirates take on Astros at 2:10 PM. Chris Archer will be pitching at Pirate City tomorrow. He’s scheduled to go six innings.