Pittsburgh Pirates come to life, beat Rays 4-3

Andrew Lambo and Sean Rodriguez came to life this spring for the first time, combining to go 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs. After giving away a 3-0 lead and allowing the Rays to tie the game, the Bucs scratched across a run in the eighth and that was enough for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they held on the win by the final score of 4-3.

Francisco Liriano sparkled in his second outing of the spring, going for three scoreless innings while striking out four and allowing a lone hit. Liriano’s slider and changeup were both dancing brilliantly, drawing frequent praise from Pirates radio announcers Greg Brown and Bob Walk.

Tony Sanchez had a great day at the plate, getting on-base in each of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with a walk.

Lambo had a strong double that scored Jeong-ho Kang all the way from first base in the fourth inning. Rodriguez’ two RBI came on a ground out in the top of the second and a line-drive single to center-field off of Everett Teaford in the top of the fourth. For good measure, Liriano had a single of his own, perhaps taking Clint Hurdle‘s pitchers helping themselves emphasis to heart.

Kang got the start at SS for the Bucs, but went o-for-3 with a strikeout, reaching base on an error and scoring a run on Lambo’s fourth-inning double.

Tony Sanchez had a great day at the plate, getting on-base in each of his plate appearances, going 2-for-2 with a walk.

Tony Watson and Jared Hughes each worked a clean inning, working the fourth and fifth, respectively. Watson struck out two, while Hughes got Evan Longoria to whiff for a swinging strikeout.

Antonio Bastardo came on to pitch the bottom of the sixth and promptly got his first two batters out, but then gave up a walk and two consecutive hits to allow the Rays to scratch across a run before stopping the bleeding.

However, Rob Scahill came in in the bottom of the seventh and quickly allowed the Rays to tie the game at three by walking Evan Longoria to start the inning followed by base hits from James Loney, David DeJesus and Luke Maile.

The unlikely hero was Gustavo Nunez, who drove in Keon Broxton in the top of the eighth for the go-ahead run

What Stood Out:

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It was highly encouraging to see signs of life from Lambo and Rodriguez, both of whom have struggled mightily thus far in spring training. I previously wrote about their struggles here, but with today’s performance, they may be turning the corner towards hitting the season in a more productive state. Lambo will need to continue to turn around his spring quickly, if he has aim to hold off other players such as Jaff Decker for a spot on the 25-man roster.

Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte were non-factors, combining to go 0-for-6.

Watson had great command and made quick work of his lone inning, remarkably only needing seven pitches to get through his day. Watson continues to impress, and, should he continue to do so, gives Clint Hurdle great protection against any possibly injury to, or ineffectiveness from incumbent-closer Mark Melancon.

What’s Next:

The Pittsburgh Pirates will next face-off against the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05 PM EST at the spring training home of the Phillies. At the time of this writing, neither team has named a staring pitcher nor released a projected lineup.

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