Day 42 of Pirates spring training: news and notes

The Pirates will face the Tampa Bay Rays in Bradenton, Fla., today at 1:05 pm. It is the last game at McKechnie Field this spring.

Left-hander Paul Maholm will start for the Bucs against the Rays David Price.

• Steve Pearce, who will be on the Pirates opening day roster for the first time in his career, is “humbled” to make the team. Pearce told Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune, “I’ve been humbled. In ’08, I really struggled. I tried to repeat that (previous) year. When things weren’t going my way, it was very frustrating. I’ve been humbled and it’s made me work a lot harder. Even though my numbers haven’t been as (good) as they were in ’07, I think I’ve developed as a baseball player. I feel like I’m a better hitter. I’ve learned how to drive the ball the other way. I’m taking pitches, walking and improving my on-base percentage.”
• Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports that Catcher Chris Snyder was feeling better on Sunday (He was scratched prior to yesterday’s game).

Snyder received treatment today and additional exercises in the whirlpool.

• Right-hander Jeff Karstens will pitch against the Minnesota Twins on Monday, the final spring game of the season.

Pirates

Lineup: Tabata LF, Walker 2B, McCutchen CF, Overbay 1B, Diaz RF, Alvarez 3B, Doumit C, Cedeno SS, Maholm LHP

Pitchers: Maholm, Hanrahan, Leroux

Rays

Lineup: Upton CF, Damon LF, Longoria 3B, Shoppach C, Zobrist RF, Rodriguez 2B, Johnson 1B, Johnson DH, Brignac SS

Pitchers: Price

Pack your bags: The Pirates equipment truck departs today for Pittsburgh.

*Photo credit: @BucsInsider