On Sunday afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates played their third game of the 2018 Grapefruit League season
The Pittsburgh Pirates are now 0-2-1 in Grapefruit League play. This comes as a result of the Pirates and their Opening Day opponent the Detroit Tigers tied at 8 on Sunday afternoon.
The Pirates struck first on Sunday afternoon. After Jose Osuna reached on an error and Max Moroff singled, second baseman Kevin Kramer hit a 3-run home run with 2 outs in the top of the 2nd inning. This gave the Bucs an early 3-0 lead.
Tyler Glasnow made the start for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In his start the Pirates and Glasnow saw a little bit of everything that has encompassed his pro career.
In the 1st inning, Glasnow hit 100 miles per hour twice on the radar gun, got a pair of groundball outs, and then struck out Miguel Cabrera looking with a 98 mile per hour fastball to cap off a 1-2-3 inning. The bottom of the 2nd inning, however, did not go nearly as well. Glasnow allowed a double, a home run, he hit a batter, and he threw a wild pitch. He did manage to avoid issuing any walks though, which is always key for him.
When it was all said and done Glasnow allowed a pair of runs on just the solo home run and the double in 2 innings pitched. He also struck out a pair. Ultimately, I expect Glasnow to break camp as a member of the Pirate bullpen.
Left-handed reliever Josh Smoker replaced Glasnow in the bottom of the 3rd inning and tossed a 1-2-3 frame. A.J. Schugel then took over in the bottom of the 4th and left after allowing a single and issuing a walk with shoulder discomfort.
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Schugel enters Spring Training out of options. The past two seasons he has been a reliable reliever for the Pirates, but the team has never appeared to be super high on him. If he is going to make the team out of spring, he can not afford any sort of setback.
Edgar Santana pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 5th inning, which included a strikeout, and then Casey Sadler pitch a perfect bottom of the 6th inning.
An inside-the-park home run by Alfredo Reyes in the top of the 7th inning extended the Pirate lead to 4-2. The bottom of the 7th inning would then see the Tigers plate 6 runs off of non-roster invitee John Stilson and minor league pitcher Tate Scioneaux. This made the score 8-4 Tigers after 7 innings of play.
In the top of the 8th inning, Austin Meadows continued his hot to the spring. He hit a 3-run triple to cut Detroit’s lead to 8-7. With the triple, Meadows is now 4-for-5 this spring with a trio of extra base hits.
Notable performances at the plate included Adam Frazier going 0-for-1 with a pair of walks, Colin Moran going 0-for-3, Josh Bell going 0-for-2 with a walk, and Max Moroff going 2-for-2 with a double. Kevin Kramer also drew a walk to go along with his 3-run blast.
After a scoreless bottom of the 8th inning from non-roster invitee Damien Magnifico, the Pirates would tie the game in the top of the 9th inning when Jerrick Suiter doubled home Jason Krizan. This led to the game finishing in an 8-8 tie.
Next: Pirates sign Kevin Siegrist
Next up for the Pirates is a 1:05 Monday afternoon tilt against the Boston Red Sox from LECOM Park in Bradenton. Ivan Nova is scheduled to start and will make his first appearance of the spring for the Bucs.
Other notes
- Joe Musgrove was scheduled to pitch a bullpen session on Monday. He has not pitch in a week due to shoulder soreness that Musgrove has called nothing but early season precautions.
- The newly acquired Kevin Siegrist pitched his first bullpen session as a Pirate on Saturday.
- Lefty Steven Brault was originally slated to pitch on Sunday but saw this pushed back so he can start on Tuesday. Like Tyler Glasnow, I expect Brault to break camp as a member of the Pirate bullpen.