Day 14 of Pirates spring training: news and notes

• The Pirates will face the Tampa Bay Rays in the home opener at McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Fl. On Sunday.
• The Flags will fly at half staff in honor of Chuck Tanner. There will also be a moment of silence before the game as well.
• Evan Meek threw a 30 pitch bullpen session Sunday and it was reported that he felt great.

Meek will take Monday off from throwing and either pitch live batting practice or to make his Grapefruit League debut on Tuesday.

• Charlie Morton’s debut in Saturday’s game against the Rays went very well.

“(Morton) pitched well,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “He made pitches out of the stretch. He was aggressive. It was a very good outing for him.”

“I am confident, after seeing how they were beating the ball into the ground, that my sinker is definitely a pitch I should be using,” Morton said.

“What we’re concerned about is getting (the fastball) in the strike zone and down,” Morton said. “I would’ve loved to have struck people out today, but I’m glad I got contact and the balls were on the ground. I would much rather go nine innings that strike out 10 people. If I could do both, that’d be awesome.”

• Monday’s games will be a split squad.
• Paul Maholm will be starting for the Pirates at home on Monday against the Baltimore Orioles. He will be followed by Jeff Karstens, who will also pitch two innings. Tyler Yates, Jeff Locke, Mike Crotta, Justin Wilson and Cesar Valdez will all pitch one inning a piece.
• In Port Charlotte, Bryan Morris will start for the Bucs against the Rays, followed by Fernando Nieve. They will both pitch two innings of work. Sean Gallaher, Aaron Thompson, Kyle McPherson will pitch one inning.