Pirates vs Orioles - 7:05 Live Blog

Bucs drop two

I had a detailed write-up for the Pirates' two games today, but for some reason I lost everything that I wrote, so I'll just add in a few notes from the two games.

- The Pirates lost to the Yankees 6-0 and the Rays 4-3 in 10 innings.
- Paul Maholm gave up 2 ER in 2 IP against the Yanks.
- Virgil Vasquez lowered his ERA to 44.75 after giving up 2 ER in 1 IP.
- Steve Pearce had the team's only hit against the Yankees.

- Brad Lincoln gave up an ER in 2 IP against the Rays.
- Evan Meek gave up 2 ER in an inning of relief
- Pedro Alvarez went 2 for 4 with an RBI and his 2nd triple in as many days.
- Jose Tabata went 2 for 4.
- Brian Friday hit a 2-run homer.
- John Raynor went 1 for 1 to raise his BA to .455 for the spring.

Pirates demolish Twins

Final: Pirates 15, Twins 5

WP: Ronald Uviedo (1-0)
LP: Anthony Swarzak (0-1)

The Pirates' bats came alive today as they pounded out 15 runs on 15 hits. The Pirates' first run came in the 2nd inning thanks to an RBI triple by Pedro Alvarez, who went 2 for 4 on the day. It was Alvarez' first hit of the spring. Alvarez, however, didn't have the only three-bagger of the inning as Rule 5 draftee John Raynor began his stellar day with an RBI triple of his own. Raynor would later hit a double and finish the day 2 for 4 with 3 RBI.

Bobby Crosby would deliver a big blow later in the 4th inning with a three-run homer. Later in the inning, Garrett Jones would pick up his first spring training hit with a two-run shot. Jones was 0 for 7 before that HR.

Ryan Doumit added two hits of his own and Delwyn Young added a bases-clearing, three-run double in the 7th.

Ross Ohlendorf started the game for the Bucs and gave up two runs in the 1st inning, but settled down for a scoreless 2nd inning. Chris Jakubauskas then gave up three runs in the 4th inning as he was not able to get through his two scheduled innings.

The rest of the Pirates' pitchers shut down the Twins from then on. Ronald Uviedo finished off the 4th inning in relief of Jakubauskas to pick up the "W." Vinnie Chulk then went on to pitch two scoreless innings where he struck out five batters. Bryan Morris then added a scoreless inning in his first spring outing. Anthony Claggett struck out the side with a scoreless 8th inning and Ramon Aguero finished it off for the Bucs with a 1-2-3 9th inning.

The Pirates have two games tomorrow as their split squads will face both the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. Both games are at 1:05 ET.

PS: Sorry for not having a recap up from yesterday's 3-3 tie with Philadelphia. I figured if the game wasn't important enough to have a winner, it wasn't important enough to talk about.

Bucs get first spring win; Sanchez shines

Final: Pirates 5, Orioles 3

WP: Ramon Aguero (1-0)
LP: Alfredo Simon (0-1)
SV: Ronald Uviedo (1)

2009 1st round pick Tony Sanchez saw his first action this spring and made the most of it. Sanchez replaced starter Ryan Doumit in the 6th inning and immediately showed people why some call him the best defensive catcher in all the minors. On a 1-0 count, 2 outs into Sanchez' debut, Jonathan Tucker took off to steal 2nd. Sanchez threw a frozen rope to gun Tucker out at 2nd. The game wasn't on television so I couldn't see it, but the announcers on the radio (Tim Neverett and John Wehner) were very impressed, as they said they did not think there would be a shot at getting Tucker.

Sanchez then stepped up to the plate in the 8th inning for his first AB. On a 2-2 pitch with 2 outs, Sanchez drove a ball over the 400 foot fence in center field to tie the game at 3-3.

The Pirates would take the lead, and the game as they scored two runs in the 9th inning.

Zach Duke started for the Bucs and gave up an earned run in two innings of work. Dan McCutchen came in and repeated Duke's performance.

The Pirates looked pretty bad in the 5th inning, when the infield committed three errors (Iwamura, Cedeno, Walker) that led to the Orioles' third and final run of the game. From then on, Javier Lopez, Evan Meek, Ramon Aguero, and Ronald Uviedo were able to keep the O's from adding any more.

The Bucs face the NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05 in their first home game at McKechnie Field.

Braves beat Bucs; McLouth speaks

Final: Braves 4, Pirates 2

WP: Jo-Jo Reyes (1-0)
LP: Brian Burres (0-1)

Well, I listened to this game while I was at work, and a few things stood to me. First, our pitchers were all over the place. In eight innings, the Bucs walked 10 batters. Charlie Morton walked three in two innings and Burres, who picked up the loss, gave up three walks and two runs in two innings.

Brad Lincoln and his scoreless inning seems like it was the high point of the day for the pitchers. Jeff Karstens also threw a 1-2-3 inning.

I had a lot of interest in this game because it featured two of the highest rated prospects in Pedro Alvarez and the Braves' Jason Heyward. However, those two players combined to go 0 for 6, so it was not really what I was expecting.

Andy LaRoche hit the first home run of the spring with a solo shot in the 7th inning.

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The leadoff hitter for the Braves today was Nate McLouth, who the Pirates' reporters swarmed with questions. McLouth was traded to the Braves for Charlie Morton, Jeff Locke, and Gorkys Hernandez and went on to hit .257/.354/.419 with Atlanta last season. This off season, McLouth discovered he had a vision problem and got contacts.

Here are some good things McLouth had to say about the Bucs:

"I never really went to the eye doctor my whole life. [The Pirates] do [an eye exam] in Spring Training, but a blind man could pass that test they do."

I would imagine that the Pirates' eye test isn't any different than any other teams' eye test. McLouth would have had to have taken a physical when he got traded, and the Braves never detected anything.

"I'm lucky I was the first one to get sent out and didn't have to deal with it all summer."

This is a good one, and I would have to agree with Nate. Him leaving allowed us to make room for Andrew McCutchen...who is better. But I think this is my favorite quote from McLouth:

"You understand what they're doing, trying to get as much talent into the system as possible. Trading people away was the way they thought was quickest. It's tough because you can never underestimate how much chemistry and being with people for an extended period of time really matters. It does matter. Even though baseball is kind of an individual sport inside of a team sport, that kind of stuff still matters -- seeing familiar faces every day who you've seen for the last year or couple of years."

Because that "chemistry" was winning so many games, huh, Nate? I've played baseball, and I've played other sports. And baseball requires the least amount of team chemistry as probably any major sport. Pitchers and catchers being on the same page is about as much chemistry as a team needs. And once again, McLouth was never part of a winning team that had "chemistry," so it must not have been that important.