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Pitching falters in Pirates 9-5 loss to Rays
Charlie Morton had his first bad outing of the spring in the Bucs 9-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday in Port Charlotte, Fla.
Morton allowed five runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts over five innings. His 1.29 ERA is no more, as it jumped to 3.32.
Morton told Rob Biertempfel of the tribune, “Walks and hit batters,” Morton said with a frown.
“What’s troubling about today is I kept missing with my sinker in and wasn’t making adjustments. I just couldn’t get a good feel for it. Instead of concentrating between the knees, trying to get it down there over the plate, I was trying to pick with it in, trying to get him to ground out to third.”
Pedro Ciriaco showed off his speed in the first, with a lead off single off of Jeff Neimann. He then quickly swiped second base. Ryan Doumit hit his fourth double of the spring to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
The Rays defense struggled in the 2nd. A bad throw by Dan Johnson advanced Matt Diaz to third base and then scored on a wild pitch by Neimann. Andy Marte doubled and was driven home by Charlie Morton, who hit a soft fly ball to left, putting the Bucs up 3-0.
Morton ran into trouble in the bottom of the 2nd. Morton hit Kelly Shoppach to load the bases with no outs. Sam Fuld drove in two with a double and Ben Zobrist hit a sac fly to tie the game at 3.
The Bucs battled back in the 4th, putting two runs on the board off of a single by Josh Rodriguez.
There was more trouble in the 5th for right-hander Charlie Morton as he had the bases loaded with no outs for the second time in the game. Morton escaped the inning with just two runs scoring –an Evan Longoria hit by pitch and a walk to Manny Ramirez — which tied the game at 5.
Joel Hanrahan allowed back-to-back walks and Justin Ruggiano took advantage of it by hitting a single to give the Rays a 7-5 edge.
The Rays tacked on two more runs off of Chris Resop in the 8th for a 9-5 lead, and went on to win by that score.
Notes:
- Andy Marte, who is battling for a corner infield position, went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a double.
- The Pirates stole four bases today. They have 25 steals this spring –last year they had just 16. The San Diego Padres lead the leagues with 36.
- Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com reports that James McDonald (left side) is scheduled to pitch in a Minor League game at Pirate City on Saturday. He will throw about 50 pitches in the outing.
Brad Lincoln (right arm contusion) is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday. Lincoln threw from 120 feet today and felt fine afterwards.
- Biertempfel of the Trib reports, Right-hander Jose Ascanio threw 24 pitches in one inning of work today during a minor league game at Pirate City.
- The Pirates will face the New York Yankees in Tampa, Fla., on Saturday at 1:05. The game will be broadcasted on FSN Pittsburgh. Kevin Correia will start for the Bucs.
Diaz homer not enough in 4-2 to Rays
Matt Diaz showed signs of breaking out of his slow start to spring (two hits in his first 16 at-bats) by hitting a two run home run in the fourth inning off of lefty David Price, but the lead was not enough as the Pirates lost 4-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Price allowed just two runs on four hits, striking out two through four innings of work.
“I thought I threw some good off-speed stuff and that’s what I wanted to work on,” Price said. “Threw a lot of two-seams, I was down in the zone. Thought I was pretty good.”
Ross Ohlendorf started for the Bucs. Ohlendorf retired the first three batters in the first inning, but gave up three hits and walked one in the second.
“I probably felt a little stronger in the first one just because I had a little more adrenaline,” said Ohlendorf, who had lasted 1 2/3 innings in his first start. “But I still felt good about today.”
Tyler Yates allowed two runs on one hit with two walks through .2 innings and picked up the loss.
Notes:
- Evan Meek made his spring training debut in the fourth inning of Monday’s ball game, pitching a scoreless inning.
After Ronny Cedeno made an error, allowing Evan Longoria to reach base, Meek got Manny Ramirez to hit into a double play. He then walked Joyce but the inning ended when he got caught trying to steal second base.
“Things were a little quick today,” Meek said afterward. “I found myself trying to relax and go out and throw strikes. That was my main focus — not really focus too much on velocity or anything. I really wanted to go in and get my work in and get back in the groove of things. It’s a good step forward.”
Meek threw just one breaking ball during his inning of work, relying on his fastball for strikes. He is scheduled to pitch an inning on Thursday, and should have no set backs for opening day.
- John Bowker and Josh Rodriguez were both sidelined on Monday due to minor injuries.
Bowker (soreness in his left wrist), Rodriguez (tightness in right quad) should not miss more than a few days.
- Scott Olsen will throw a live session of batting practice on Tuesday.
- Chris Snyder threw out two-of-three base stealers today.
- The Pirates will have two games on Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers.
Brian Burres will start the regular squad game against Carl Pavano, Brad Lincoln will start for the “B” squad. Steve Pearce will also make his debut at third base.
Kristy Robinson
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