Pittsburgh Pirates fall to New York Yankees 2-1

Andrew McCutchen, Francisco Liriano, and Charlie Morton all saw their first game action of 2015, but it was the Yankees who had a spring in their step, taking a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Florida.

The two teams took until the top of the fifth inning to start the scoring, as the Yankees (1-1) got on the board with a two-out bloop double by former Pirate Garret Jones that scored Chris Young all the way from second base.   The Pirates (1-2)  struck back in the bottom of the sixth on the back of a two-out double by Jaff Decker, who continues to have an intriguing spring.  Decker was then promptly thrown out at home when attempting to reach home on Delbinson Romero’s single.  Rounding out the offense for both teams was Tyler Austin‘s home run off of the Pirates’ Deolis Guerra.

Not pictured in the offensive attack was McCutchen, who went o-for-3 while manning the unfamiliar designated hitter spot.  Jeong-ho Kang, however, continued to impress, smacking a strong double in the early going.  The patience at the plate that the Pirates displayed in their first two spring training games took a step back as the Pirates stuck out eight times.

What Stood Out:

Liriano and Morton both pitched well, if not spectacular, in their spring debuts, each going for two scoreless innings.   Liriano began the game and faced eight batters, striking out two and walking one, giving up two hits in the process.  Morton also lasted two frames and also gave up two hits, but his appearance was marred by giving up two free passes against only one punchout.  Still, it was very encouraging to see Morton out there after off-season hip surgery.

Morton appears to be fully confident going into 2015, as evidenced by this tweet from Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune-Review:

After the game, Liriano had this to say about his performance:

Also in the pitching mix was highly regarded prospect Tyler Glasnow.  In his lone inning of work, he struck out two of the three batters he faced.

What’s Next: 

Highlighting one of the few battles going into spring training, Jeff Locke will get a chance to stake his claim to the number five spot in the starting rotation as he faces off against the Yankees at George Steinbrenner Field on Friday at 7:05 PM EST.  Also slated to pitch is Arquimedes Caminero, who impressed in his first spring outing.  Opposing the Pirates will be left-hander Chris Capuano.

The Pirates’ lineup for Friday will include Neil Walker, Jordy Mercer, and Jose Tabata, among others.  After an encouraging start in team drills, Tabata has struggled in the past two spring games, and against the Yankees he was 0-for-2 with another strikeout.  For the spring, he is o-for-3 with three strikeouts.  Tabata’s continued poor play could put him in danger of losing the fourth outfielder position to Andrew Lambo.

Please join us tomorrow for a full recap of Friday’s tilt against the Bronx Bombers.

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