A ninth inning rally by the Pirates broke open a 2-2 ballgame, who went on to beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 at Hammond Stadium on Tuesday.

Pedro Ciriaco hit a sac fly and Andrew Lambo hit a two-run single giving the Bucs the edge.

Brian Burres pitched two perfect innings against the Twins on Tuesday, extending his no run streak to six innings so far this spring. In his three appearances he has allowed just three hits, no walks with four strike outs.

“He’s staying in competition,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “Everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s done. He’s a flexible guy, a versatile guy, but we still want to take looks at him, stretch him out a little bit. I’m anticipating that next time.”

Burres, 29, can benefit the Pirates both as a starter or a reliever. Last season with the Bucs he went 4-5 with a 4.99 ERA in 20 appearances (13 starts).

“Any time you can offer multiple roles for yourself, it’s an asset to you,” Burres said. “Obviously, coming out of the bullpen you’re short on warm up throws, but you kind of try to approach it the same way. Honestly, whatever role they need me to be, I’m perfectly happy doing it. I prefer pitching in the big leagues.”

Carl Pavano pitched four innings allowing just two hits and striking two.

The game remained scoreless until a sacrifice fly by Ryan Doumit in the fifth inning gave the Bucs a 1-0 lead. Luke Hughe hit a sac fly of his own in the sixth, tying the game at one. The Twins then took the lead after a RBI double by Matthew Down. Lyle Overbay tied the game back up at 2 in the seventh.

Brad Lincoln started the “B” game against the Twins, which was located on the back field. But that didn’t change Lincoln’s attitude on the mound.

After a 30 pitch first inning, loading the bases and down 3-0 in the count, he managed to get out of the inning allowing no runs. He only needed six pitches for a perfect second inning.

“It’s still a baseball game, you still got everybody watching you, you got all the coaches over there looking,” said Lincoln, who went two innings in a shortened game the Twins won, 4-2. “You don’t want a lackadaisical hang-your-head-because-you’re-pitching-in-a-’B'-game-type attitude.”

Lincoln is battling Charlie Morton and Scott Olsen (hamstring) for the 5^th spot in the rotation. “There’s not a whole lot of talk going on right now about what their plans are with anybody, but right now, I’m still competing for the job,” he said. “They still want me to work on some things, but I have to compete at the same time. I have to put those two together.”

Notes:

• Andy Marte hit a solo home run in game “B” against the Twins.
• Steve Pearce made his spring debut at third base today (he only has five career appearances at third) and he even made a pretty good play at the hot corner.

“He made a [heckuva] play,” said right-hander Brad Lincoln, who was on the hill and having a rough inning. “It probably did save me a run.”

Pearce, who has been with the Pirates organization since being drafted in 2005, knows the team well and would love the shot at being the Bucs corner-utility fielder (He is also battling Josh Fields, Garrett Atkins and Andy Marte for that one open spot).

“We brought guys in, and we brought four or five guys in and they’re all competing for that one spot,” Pearce said. “Of course, we know it’s out there, but you want to control how you play. You can’t control what other people think. You just give your best and hopefully you open some eyes.”

• Brian Friday was hit in the hand by a pitch in game “B” today. The x-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day.
• Joe Beimel pitched a successful bullpen session today.
• The Pirates will face the New York Yankees on Wednesday –the first night game of the spring. Kevin Correia will start for the Bucs, pitching four innings and the Yankees will send Bartolo Colon. The game will start at 7:05 in Tampa, FLA.