After totaling ten hits in four of their earlier spring games, the Pirates broke out for 15 in a 13-1 rout of Baltimore. They even went 9-for-17 with RISP.
There were lots of contributions. Adam Frazier made his first spring appearance, serving as DH. He went 2-for-3 with a double. Kevin Newman stayed hot, going 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs. He’s batting .750 for the spring, but he did leave the game after three innings with hamstring tightness. Derek Shelton described the move as precautionary. Ke’Bryan Hayes only went 1-for-4, but it was a double, his fourth extra-base hit in four games.
Among the prospects, Ji-Hwan Bae was 2-for-3. Mason Martin had his first spring hit and Jared Oliva was 1-for-2. Newcomer Dustin Fowler had a three-run double.
And Jacob Stallings stole third.
The pitching remained good. J.T. Brubaker finished two innings on 27 pitches, allowing just a pair of singles. Chase DeJong was shaky in his first inning due to some control problems. He needed a double play to escape from a bases-loaded, one-out jam. In his second, he hit the first batter, but got the next one and then got another double play.
Two of the “established” relievers pitched. Richard Rodriguez made his first game appearance. He gave up the only run on two singles, but also fanned two in his inning. Kyle Crick fanned three, while giving up a hit and a walk. Chasen Shreve threw a scoreless inning for the third time; he has yet to allow a hit or walk. Clay Holmes threw a scoreless eighth and David Bednar pitched the ninth. Bednar fanned two, so he’s now struck out seven in three innings, with no hits and one walk allowed. So no clarity was added to the bullpen today, which is fine.
The Bucs are off tomorrow and face the Braves on the road on Tuesday.
