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Pregame: Pirates vs. Rays in Bradenton

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Good morning from McKechnie Field. The Pirates are currently working on base stealing drills. The starting pitchers are working on catching runners on the bases. There are some minor leaguers here also running the bases this morning. Perhaps to improve from the clubs base running gaffe’s in yesterdays, 6-5 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Josh Harrison was caught stealing twice, both times he slid past the bag at second. Casey McGehee was picked off at second base and pitcher Kevin Correia was caught in a run down between second and third base. Matt Hague was also out trying to steal home plate.

“We made some bad decisions,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said after the game. “We gave away two outs in between second and third, one at home, as far as running the bases. Harrison was safe. He slid by the bag. We got to get him to slide earlier. He was safe both times and slid by the base. It’s something that’s got to be addressed…We’ve got work to do.”

  • The Pirates will face the Tampa Bay Rays at 1:05 today in Bradenton. Right-hander Jeff Karstens will face righty James Shields. Jason Grilli, Tony Watson and Daniel Moskos are scheduled to follow Karstens in relief.
  • Karstens is making his third official start of the Grapefruit League this spring. Overall, Karstens has allowed one run on five hits over eight innings this spring. He’s walked three and struck out six.
  • Pirates lineup vs. Rays:

Alex Presley 7

Clint Barmes 6

Nate McLouth 8

Garrett Jones 3

Yamaico Navarro 4

Pedro Alvarez 5

Nick Evans 9

Rod Barajas 2

Jeff Karstens 1

  • Rays lineup vs. Pirates: Elliot Johnson 6, Sam Fuld 8, Ben Zobrist 4, Carlos Pena DH, Jeff Keppinger 3, Jose Lobaton 2, Jeff Salazar 9, Chris Gimenez 7, Will Rhymes 5
  • The Pirates will face the Detroit Tigers at 1:05 tomorrow at McKechnie Field. It will be the first time the two clubs meet up this spring. Right-hander Charlie Morton will face righty Doug Fister. Joel Hanrahan, Daniel McCutchen, Chris Leroux, Ryota Igarashi are scheduled to follow in relief.
  • Hot bucs: Juan Cruz has been scored upon just once in his first six appearances (7.0 innings) this spring; Jason Grilli has not surrendered a run and has allowed just one hit in his first five outings (6.0 innings); Matt Hague has seven hits (two homers) in his last 13 at-bats; Joel Hanrahan has struck out a team-leading 10 batters in his first five innings; Alex Presley has reached base safely in 10 of  his first 13 games and ranks fifth among N.L. Grapefruit League players in batting (.361).

 

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