The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 6-5 to the New York Yankees in Tampa on Sunday afternoon. Chris Archer got the start and threw three shutout innings on two hits, with no walks and four strikeouts. Jung Ho Kang and Francisco Cervelli hit back-to-back homers off of J.A. Happ in the third inning. Cole Tucker hit his first triple of the spring, while Kevin Kramer had an RBI single and a walk in two trips to the plate. Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bralin Jackson each added an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Jackson replaced Bryan Reynolds in the starting lineup after he was scratched due to left hamstring discomfort.
Francisco Liriano faced four batters on Sunday and walked all of them. Three of those runners came around to score. Jesus Liranzo took the loss after allowing a two-run homer in the eighth inning. Nick Burdi and Dovydas Neverauskas each tossed shutout ball, while Geoff Hartlieb allowed one run over 1.2 innings.
Monday’s Action
The Pirates are on the road today to take on the Atlanta Braves at 1:00 PM in the only spring meeting between the two clubs.
Here’s today’s lineup:
- Pablo Reyes RF
- Erik Gonzalez DH
- JB Shuck CF
- Jose Osuna 1B
- Colin Moran 3B
- Patrick Kivlehan LF
- Kevin Newman SS
- Kevin Kramer 2B
- Jacob Stallings C
The late inning replacements (in order, same positions as above, minus the DH spot) will be Lolo Sanchez, Travis Swaggerty, Will Craig, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Alfredo Reyes, Cole Tucker, Adrian Valerio and Steven Baron. This will be the second appearance this spring for Swaggerty.
Nick Kingham will be starting today, followed by Steven Brault and Alex McRae.
Elias Diaz returned to the team yesterday and is now in the very early stages of getting ready for the season, which means he won’t be an option for Opening Day. His possible return time to the big league club has not been announced.
Tuesday’s Action
The Pirates will be at home on Tuesday to take on the Minnesota Twins at 1:00 PM. The game will be broadcast locally in Pittsburgh on AT&T SportsNet. Out of area viewers can watch it on MLB Network live and it will also be replayed later. Jameson Taillon will be on the mound making his first start of the spring. He has been pitching simulated games at Pirate City. Jordan Lyles, Michael Feliz and Tyler Lyons are also scheduled to pitch.
