The Pittsburgh Pirates played their Spring Training home opener on Sunday and they got a huge day from their two third basemen in the 10-6 win over the Miami Marlins.
Jung Ho Kang started the game at third base and hit two solo homers in his only two plate appearances. Ke’Bryan Hayes replaced him in the sixth and hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat, then capped the game off with a walk-off grand slam in the ninth.
Here’s the game winner from Hayes
End it for us, @KeBryanHayes.#Raiseit pic.twitter.com/Ka2smAd1c9
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) February 24, 2019
Pablo Reyes played shortstop off of the bench and went 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Starting pitcher Nick Kingham allowed two hits and a walk in two scoreless innings. Francisco Liriano followed with shutout ball in the third inning. Nick Burdi served up a home run in his only inning of work, but he also struck out the other three batters he faced. Dario Agrazal tossed 1.1 scoreless innings.
Jameson Taillon pitched a sim game at Pirate City yesterday. According to Adam Berry, he threw 34 pitches over two innings. He was followed by Kyle Crick, who threw one inning, and Chris Archer threw 19 pitches during live batting practice.
Monday’s Notes
The lineups are out early for Monday’s game at home versus the Boston Red Sox at 1 PM:
- Melky Cabrera LF
- Starling Marte CF
- Francisco Cervelli 1B
- Josh Bell DH
- Colin Moran 3B
- Jose Osuna RF
- Kevin Newman SS
- Pablo Reyes 2B
- Jacob Stallings C
The starting pitcher today will be Jordan Lyles, making his first appearance for the Pirates. Brandon Waddell, Elvis Escobar, Eduardo Vera and Jesus Liranzo are scheduled to follow.
The Pirates also noted the mid-game changes for today already, though there could be more with other players on the bench. Logan Hill, JB Shuck, Jerrick Suiter, Dylan Busby, Lolo Sanchez, Cole Tucker, Alfredo Reyes and Christian Kelley will all come into the game around the sixth inning, replacing everyone in the lineup (in that order: Hill for Cabrera, Shuck for Marte, etc.) except Josh Bell.
The bench will also have Oneil Cruz, who is very likely to get into the game (possibly replacing Bell), along with Bryan Reynolds, Rodolfo Castro, Arden Pabst and Jason Delay.
At Pirate City today, Trevor Williams, Keone Kela, Felipe Vazquez and Richard Rodriguez will be throwing simulated games. Jung Ho Kang will be among the batters they will face.
Tuesday’s Pitchers
The Pirates will travel to Fort Myers tomorrow for a 1 PM game against the Minnesota Twins. Mitch Keller will make his first start of the spring. He will be followed in some order by JT Brubaker and three guys trying to make the bullpen. Tyler Lyons, Brandon Maurer and Michael Feliz all make their spring debuts.
