Paul Skenes Pitches Into 4th Inning In Deepest Start Of Spring Training, As Pirates Beat Orioles
Paul Skenes Pitches Into 4th Inning In Deepest Start Of Spring Training, As Pirates Beat Orioles
Blog Article
Paul Skenes was neither overpowering nor incredibly efficient in his second start of spring training, but the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander didn’t that let stop him from delivering his deepest start.
Skenes pitched into the fourth inning for the first time in a 9-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night in a Grapefruit League game at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla.
Skenes allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts on 63 pitches before exiting after facing one batter in the fourth. That’s nine pitches more than Skenes had in his previous start.
After striking out Cedric Mullins, Skenes gave up a single to Adley Rutschman and a two-out walk to Colton Cowser before getting Jordan Westburg to ground out to end the first frame.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the second, when Endy Rodriguez singled, advanced to third on Nick Yorke’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Enmanuel Valdez.
The Orioles tied it in the bottom of the second. Skenes struck out Ryan Mountcastle, walked Gary Sanchez and gave up a double to Ramon Urias. Sanchez scored when Jared Triolo didn’t cleanly field a grounder to second base, tying the score at 1-1.
Triolo singled to start the third, advanced to second on Tommy Pham’s groundout and to third on a wild pitch by Zach Eflin, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Oneil Cruz for a 2-1 lead. Rodriguez singled to score Bryan Reynolds for a 3-1 lead.
Skenes allowed a one-out single by Ryan O’Hearn in the third but got Cowser to ground into a forceout, then struck out Westburg. The Pirates increased their lead to 4-1 when Valdez scored on a passed ball by Sanchez on Pham’s walk.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton sent Skenes out for the fourth but pulled him after Mountcastle hit a leadoff single. Ryan Harbin replaced Skenes, only for the Orioles to score four runs and take the lead.
Harbin walked Sanchez, threw a wild pitch that allowed both runners to move into scoring position and walked Urias to load the bases. Luis Vazquez drove in Mountcastle with a sacrifice fly to left to make it 4-2. Harbin hit Mullins with a pitch to load the bases again, and O’Hearn hit a two-out, two-run single to tie the score.
Derek Diamond replaced Harbin, but Rodriguez had a passed ball that allowed Mullins to score to give the Orioles a 5-4 lead.
The Pirates tied it in the sixth on Yorke’s sacrifice fly to center, and Matt Gorski scored on Mullins’ throwing error to make it 5-5. Liover Peguero homered in the seventh to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead. Jason Delay hit a bases-clearing single in the ninth to make it 9-5.
Notes: The Pirates reassigned two pitchers, right-hander Bubba Chandler and lefty Hunter Barco, to their minor-league camp. There are now 62 players remaining in big-league camp. … Jared Jones is scheduled to start against Cristofer Sanchez when the Pirates host the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05 p.M. Friday at LECOM Park in Bradenton.