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Pittsburgh Pirates Defeat Boston Red Sox 3-2
By Marty Leap
The Pittsburgh Pirates are now 7-2 in Grapefruit League play
On Saturday afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates played the same team they will play to open the regular season. This team, of course, is the Boston Red Sox. And on Saturday, the Pirates earned a 3-2 victory over the Red Sox.
With the victory, the Pirates are now 7-2 in Grapefruit League play. While Spring Training games are completely meaningless, it is still nice to see the Bucs off to a good start. If nothing else, winning Spring Training games is more fun than losing them.
Chad Kuhl started the game for the Pirates. This was Kuhl’s second start of the spring. While Clint Hurdle has yet to make it official, Kuhl is almost certainly a lock to start the season in the Pirate rotation.
On Saturday, Chad Kuhl pitched two scoreless innings. He allowed a double to Brock Holt to lead off the game but went on to retire the last six batters he faced. This included recording three strikeouts.
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Kuhl continues to work on developing a change up. If he can successfully do this, it will go a long way toward making him a long term option in the Pirate rotation. If not, his success could be short lived.
Left-handed reliever Wade LeBlanc followed Kuhl. LeBlanc allowed two runs on three hits, one walk, and two strikeouts in three innings of work. The two runs he allowed came via a Chris Young home run in the third inning.
Tony Watson, Daniel Hudson, Jared Hughes, and Pat Light all threw a scoreless inning of relief. Watson and Hudson each retired the Red Sox in order while recording a pair of strikeouts in their inning of work. It was good to see a strong bounce back outing from Watson.
Jared Hughes recorded three ground ball outs. Seeing Hughes get his sinker working and generating ground balls is always a good sign for him.
Josh Harrison hit lead off for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday and finished the day 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Starling Marte was in center field and went 1-for-3, while Andrew McCutchen went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and a RBI.
Gregory Polanco was 0-for-2 with a walk, David Freese collected a single and a RBI, and Francisco Cervelli was 2-for-3. Jose Osuna‘s hot spring continued as he went 1-for-2 with a walk. Jordy Mercer started at shortstop and went 0-for-3, Kevin Newman would go 0-for-1 in relief of Mercer.
Next: The Pirates Have A Blocking Problem
Next up for the Pirates is a trip to Steinbrenner Field in Tampa Bay to play the Yankees on Sunday at 1:05. Jameson Taillon will start for the Pirates. Nick Kingham, Clay Holmes, Antonio Bastardo, A.J. Schugel, and Dan Ranzler are all slated to pitch as well.