Each day during spring training for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pirates Breakdown will give you game recaps, news updates, and video of player and coach interviews, highlights, and more from the day.
In a pitching duel and defensive showcase, the Pirates came out on the short end, losing 1-0 to the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday. They fall to 2-4 in spring training and sit near the bottom of the meaningless Grapefruit League standings.
The Pirates pitchers kept the Phillies hitters at bay most of the game, as they mustered just four hits through the first six innings, but it took just two hits and a walk for the Phillies to push across the winning run in the seventh against A.J. Schugel.
The Pirates offense didn’t fare much better, but the starters did muster together seven hits through the first six innings. They only managed to threaten to score twice the whole game, however. In the second, Starling Marte singled on a sharp liner to center and advanced on a wild pitch. Josh Bell walked, but Chris Stewart, Sean Rodriguez, and Cole Figueroa all failed in succession to get Marte home.
In the fifth, back-to-back hits from Jason Rogers and Alen Hanson almost netted the go-ahead run, but Rogers hesitated ever so slightly taking a narrow turn around third. Cameron Rupp would have likely been called for blocking the plate, but in spring training, plays don’t get reviewed.
Marte and Hanson turned in impressive offensive performances with two hits apiece.
On the pitching side, Jeff Locke showed significantly greater command compared to his first outing and an effective changeup in the third inning. After he allowed four runs over two innings and a ton of hard contact in his first outing, it will be interesting to see which version shows up for his third spring appearance.
Tony Watson, Trey Haley, and Eric O’Flaherty all turned in scoreless innings in relief of Locke. In shades of 2012, O’Flaherty’s slider showed some of the movement that made him one of the most effective relievers in baseball. It lacks the command for now, but what pitcher doesn’t struggle with command early in spring training?
Unfortunately there’s no video available to us today, as the game was televised on Root Sports, but here are some tweets that should keep all of you interested in spring ball:
Pirates' Gerrit Cole throws 37 pitches and nears a return to the spring-training rotation https://t.co/QKQOB8hKw5 pic.twitter.com/vePQ3amI07
— Post-Gazette Sports (@PGSportsNow) March 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/PBDThomas/status/706916250966831104
We are underway at McKechnie!#LockeitUp #PiratesST https://t.co/ZoNEy9yufT
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 7, 2016
Matt Joyce made an excellent running catch on the hardest-hit ball Locke allowed in three innings. Quick moving action today.
— Matt Gajtka (GITE-kah) (@MattGajtka) March 7, 2016
Jeff Locke … much better in his second start of the spring. Much softer contact. Only allowed two singles in two innings.
— Matt Gajtka (GITE-kah) (@MattGajtka) March 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/PBDThomas/status/706913028826992640
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