Sights & Sounds from Pittsburgh Pirates Spring Training – on to day two

Each day during spring training for the Pittsburgh Pirates, we’ll be giving you game recaps, news updates, and exclusive video of player and coach interviews, highlights, and more from the day.

The great thing about baseball season, unlike other sports, is that games happen five or six times a week, and that holds true for spring training as well. The Pirates play games every day but two in March, including two split-squad days when the team will play two games each day. Today, the Pirates finished up a home-and-home with the Detroit Tigers and fell to 1-1 in Grapefruit League action after a 10-3 loss. The Tigers got to Jeff Locke early, who started the game for the Pirates, by tagging him for four runs in the first. However, Locke’s spot in the rotation is essentially guaranteed this year, unlike last season when he had to compete with Vance Worley to be the fifth starter on Opening Day, so his spring is more about working on things rather than performance. Detroit had another big inning in the eighth as they tagged reliever Eric O’Flaherty for five runs (one earned), who is competing for the final spot in the bullpen with many other worthy candidates.

Here are some brief highlights from the game, including Chris Stewart gunning a runner out at third:

Despite giving up four runs, Locke says that it still felt good to get out there and return to the mound:

Clint Hurdle addressed some questions from the media as well, and said the team wants more action on the base-paths from Andrew McCutchen this season:

This is the type of game that’s easy for the casual fan to react negatively to, but always remember that the outcomes don’t matter. Also don’t weigh a player’s first stint on the mound or his first series of at-bats too much; this early in spring training, it’s just about players get used to facing real competition for the first time in months. It was cool to hear Joe Block with Bob Walk for the first time in the booth, and both men seemed to be having a good time together. John Harbaugh, head coach at Michigan, was manning the first base coach position for the Tigers for the first few innings. In terms of the game, Chris Stewart made a nice throw to third to snag a runner who was too far off the base, as seen in the highlights above. Former Pirate prospect JaCoby Jones hit a two-run home run off Eric O’Flaherty in the eighth inning. Andrew McCutchen attempted to steal a base, as many people want to see him get back to his old base-stealing ways, while John Jaso made an error throwing to second as he tries to learn the defensive intricacies of first base.

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