Pirates Spring Training 2012: Pirates Send Brad Lincoln, Dan McCutchen To Minors

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Pirates Spring Training 2012: Bucs Finish Spring Training With 9-20 Record

The Pirates finished Spring Training action with a 7-2 loss in Philadelphia Tuesday night. Cole Hamels dominated the Pirates in four scoreless innings, and Chris Leroux allowed three runs.

The Pirates made one roster move before the game, sending reliever Danny Moskos to Class AAA Indianapolis. The team still has additional moves left to make before reducing their active roster to 25 players before Opening Day. Two of those likely will be sending A.J. Burnett and Charlie Morton to the disabled list. After that, they'll still have to reduce the roster by one, probably by sending reliever Jared Hughes to the minors, although Leroux and Matt Hague aren't assured of roster spots either.

The Bucs finish Spring Training with a Grapefruit League-worst 9-20 record. Fortunately, Spring Training games don't mean a whole lot.

They'll take on the Phillies yet again, this time in Pittsburgh, for Opening Day on Thursday at 1:35 p.m.

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Pirates Vs. Phillies Final Score: Bucs Lose 4-3 Despite Andrew McCutchen Homer

Andrew McCutchen homered, but the Pirates lost 4-3 to the Phillies in a Spring Training game in Philadelphia Friday.

The Phillies scored in the first when Juan Pierre doubled, then came home on a sacrifice fly. They added another in the second when Shane Victorino tripled and then scored on a groundout, and then took a 3-0 lead in the third on an RBI double by Jimmy Rollins.

The Pirates put up two runs in the fourth when Jose Tabata and Neil Walker singled and Garrett Jones doubled. McCutchen tied the game in the sixth with his homer.

The Phillies scored the winning run in the seventh on a Freddy Galvis RBI triple off minor-leaguer Ryan Beckman.

Pedro Alvarez, who has struggled throughout Spring Training, went 0-for-3 for the Bucs.

The Pirates face the Phillies in another exhibition game on Tuesday.

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Pirates Spring Training 2012 Schedule: Pittsburgh Wraps Up Spring Training Against Philadelphia

The Pittsburgh Pirates are just about done with their slate of Grapefruit League games in spring training, but they will have to play two more against a pretty good Philadelphia team before opening up the season there on Thursday.

They've already headed back up north and will face the Phillies in Philadelphia the next two days before opening the season against the Phightin's later this week. The first game on Monday will be played at 7:05 pm and the game on Tuesday will be played at 7:05 pm as well.

They'll take a day off on Wednesday before officially opening their MLB seasons on Thursday at 1:35 pm. The pitching schedule for opening day is slated to be Roy Halladay against Erik Bedard.

The two teams will take Friday off as well, then play two more games over the weekend to wrap up the first series of the year. The first night game of the year will be played on Saturday at 7:05 pm and the series will be completed on Sunday at 1:35 pm.

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Pirates Vs. Jays: Nate McLouth Homer Helps Bucs To 3-1 Victory

Nate McLouth’s two-run, eighth-inning home run led the Pirates to a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday in the Bucs’ last Spring Training game in Florida.

The Pirates couldn’t do much against Jays starter Brandon Morrow, who pitched four shutout innings, and Toronto held a 1-0 lead after Edwin Encarnacion’s RBI single brought home Kelly Johnson in the fourth.

Michael McKenry singled in the eighth, however, and McLouth brought him home with a jack to left field. Matt Hague added a home run in the ninth, his seventh of the spring.

Pirates relievers Danny Moskos, Tim Alderson, Kris Johnson and Kyle Cofield pitched five scoreless innings. Alderson, who has looked lost in the minors the past two seasons, looked very good in his inning of work, striking out Johnson and Yan Gomes.

The Pirates will travel to Philadelphia to face the Phillies in two exhibition games Monday and Tuesday.

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Pirates Roster: Brad Lincoln, Daniel McCutchen Sent To Class AAA

The Pirates have cut pitchers Brad Lincoln and Daniel McCutchen, sending them both to Indianapolis.

Lincoln provides the Pirates with a reasonable backup plan in case one of their starters gets injured, but they don’t need him right now, and it’s probably better to have him starting in Indianapolis than pitching out of the bullpen in Pittsburgh, so that he can be ready to start for the Pirates if needed.

McCutchen is a fungible swingman type of pitcher. As with Lincoln, he’ll probably end up with the Pirates at some point this year, but he isn’t needed right now. He put up superficially good numbers in the first half of last season, but his poor strikeout rate (47 strikeouts in 84.2 innings) suggests that he doesn’t bring a whole lot to the table, beyond an ability to eat innings in a relief role, when needed.

The Pirates still have 29 players in camp, including two in A.J. Burnett and Charlie Morton who are likely to be sent to the disabled list. They need to get down to 25 in time for Opening Day.

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Pirates Spring Training Scores: Bucs Post Loss, Tie In Split-Squad Action

In split-squad action on Saturday, the Pirates tied the Baltimore Orioles 6-6 and lost to the Minnesota Twins, 15-3.

Alex Presley and Garrett Jones homered in the tie against the Orioles, but starter Erik Bedard gave up two home runs of his own, leading to four earned runs over five innings. Casey McGehee and Rod Barajas both allowed two hits apiece.

The game was the Pirates’ last Spring Training game in Bradenton this year.

In the Twins matchup, Kevin Correia allowed 10 runs in 2.1 innings, raising his spring ERA to 7.71. After 1.2 scoreless innings by minor-leaguer Matt McSwain, Daniel McCutchen entered and gave up three runs in an inning. Then it was Tim Wood’s turn, and he gave up two more runs. Juan Cruz and minor-leaguer Ryan Beckman pitched a scoreless ninth. Michael McKenry had two hits in the loss.

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Pedro Alvarez Changing Swing Yet Again

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Pirates Spring Training 2012, Grapefruit League Schedule: Pirates Play Four Games In Three Days

Major League Baseball is preparing for the big move North to start out the season, but there are still a few more games to be played in the spring training leagues. The Pirates have six more games left on their Grapefruit League schedule, and they will play four of them this weekend.

The first game is on Friday at 1:05 pm against the Tampa Bay Rays in Bradenton. Here is the lineup for Friday's game.

Today's lineup vs. TB: Tabata RF, Navarro LF, McCutchen CF, McGehee 3B, Barajas C, Walker 2B, Hague 1B, Barmes SS, McKenry C, Watson P

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 30, 2012

On Saturday the Pirates will split their team up, playing two split squad games against the Baltimore Orioles and Minnesota Twins. Both of those games start at 1:05 pm. The Pirates will be at home against the Orioles, while they take on the Twins at their place in Ft. Myers.

Finally, the team will be back together on Sunday when they take on the Toronto Blue Jays. That game will also start at 1:05 pm and will be played in Dunedin.

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Pirates Roster: Charlie Morton To Disabled List, Juan Cruz Earns Spot

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Pirates Send Jake Fox, Nick Evans, Ryota Igarashi, Eric Fryer To Minors

The Pirates have cut four players from Spring Training: catcher Eric Fryer, potential bench bats Jake Fox and Nick Evans, and reliever Ryota Igarashi. All four have been sent to the minors. None of the four cuts come as much of a surprise, based on the news and rumors over the past week or so that suggest that two utility infielders, Yamaico Navarro and Josh Harrison, will both make the team.

Of the four, Fryer and Fox had the best Spring Training performances, with Fryer batting .348 and Fox hitting two homers.

Igarashi showed a good fastball but got hit hard; he expressed surprise about being cut, which is amusing, given that his performance was poor and he didn’t have much of a shot to make the team to begin with. He evidently will decide whether or not he wants to report to the minor leagues.

The Pirates still need to make several more cuts before Opening Day.

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Pedro Alvarez Will Start Year With Pirates, But Should He?

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Pirates Roster: Bucs Sorting Out Bullpen

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Orioles Vs. Pirates: Pedro Alvarez Continues To Struggle As O's Two-Hit Bucs

The Pirates were two-hit in a 4-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, and they committed three errors.

None of the Pirates’ position players looked particularly good (except maybe Andrew McCutchen, who walked, stole second, went to third when the throw went into the outfield, and came home on a groundout for the Pirates’ only run).

But expect the chatter about this game to be about Pedro Alvarez, who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. One of the strikeouts came on a terrible call, but Alvarez looked awful in the other two at-bats, and he now has 15 strikeouts in 33 Spring Training at-bats. He’s still the Pirates’ starting third baseman, even though he hasn’t really looked like a major-league hitter in much of Spring Training.

Erik Bedard pitched very well for the Pirates, breezing through six innings before struggling in the seventh, when he was replaced by Jason Grilli. Bedard got five strikeouts and allowed two runs, one earned.

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Pedro Alvarez To Be Pirates' Starting Third Baseman

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Astros Vs. Pirates Score: James McDonald's Great Start Not Enough As Bullpen Control Issues Lead To 5-4 Loss

An implosion by non-roster reliever Ryota Igarashi allowed the Astros to pick up three crucial ninth-inning runs and eventually win the game, but James McDonald pitched seven excellent innings in the Pirates’ 5-4, 10-inning Spring Training loss to the Astros Saturday.

McDonald pitched a no-hitter through five innings before allowing a single to Travis Buck in the sixth. Over seven innings, he struck out three and walked none while allowing one run. McDonald doesn’t pitch seven full innings very often, and his command had been shaky in previous Spring Training starts, so his fine performance on Saturday had to be encouraging for the Pirates.

The Bucs got two first-inning runs, then an eighth-inning, two-run homer by Garrett Jones in the eighth inning.

Igarashi came in with a 4-1 lead in the ninth and walked two batters, then allowed a three-run homer by Scott Moore. Minor-leaguer Kris Johnson pitched in the 10th and gave up two walks of his own, followed by an error by minor-league shortstop Josh Rodriguez that scored the winning run.

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Tigers Vs. Pirates: Charlie Morton Pitches Four Strong Innings In 7-2 Loss

The Pirates lost 7-2 to the Detroit Tigers Friday afternoon after Daniel McCutchen allowed six runs in the ninth.

The news is not all bad, though. McCutchen’s awful inning occurred in part because he allowed a number of ground ball singles (although the grand slam by Quintin Berry didn’t help). And Charlie Morton, who’s off to a late start after recovering from offseason hip surgery, pitched four scoreless innings to start the game, allowing two hits and no walks while striking out two. Due to a couple of off days soon after the start of the season, the Pirates won’t need Morton until mid-April, but the signs are encouraging that he’ll be ready by then.

Matt Hague homered for the Pirates, and Jose Tabata went 3-for-4.

Third baseman Pedro Alvarez sat out the game with what the Pirates report is a knee injury. It doesn’t sound particularly serious.

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Pirates Spring Training Performances Shouldn't Change Much For Matt Hague, Josh Harrison

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Red Sox Vs. Pirates Score: Matt Hague, Nate McLouth Homer In 6-5 Win

The Pirates defeated the Boston Red Sox 6-5 in Grapefruit League play Wednesday afternoon thanks in part to home runs by Nate McLouth and Matt Hague.

Hague’s homer capped a four-run third inning for the Pirates. The Bucs started the inning with a double by Josh Harrison and then singles by Andrew McCutchen, Casey McGehee and Neil Walker. Harrison and McCutchen scored, and McGehee got called out at third on Walker’s hit, leaving Hague to bring home Walker with his homer.

Kevin Correia pitched five innings and allowed four runs, two of those coming on a homer by Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the fourth. Evan Meek also allowed a solo homer (by Mauro Gomez) in his two innings of work. Joel Hanrahan and Juan Cruz pitched scoreless innings in relief.

Harrison and Hague both had two-hit games for the Pirates, who had 12 hits overall.

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Pirates Could Take Two Utility Infielders North Out Of Spring Training

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Pirates Cut Brandon Boggs, Jeff Clement, Tim Wood, Daniel Cabrera

Dejan Kovacevic tweets that the Pirates have sent first baseman Jeff Clement, outfielder Brandon Boggs, and pitchers Tim Wood and Daniel Cabrera to minor-league camp.

None of these players were expected to seriously compete for major-league jobs, although Boggs got a fair amount of playing time, and I wondered if the Pirates might be considering him for the last outfield spot. I’m happy to see they weren’t, or at least that he didn’t win it.

Of the four players who were cut, the one most likely to join the Pirates later is probably Wood, since he has a fairly good arm and bullpens tend to have a lot of turnover.

The moves leave 39 players left in camp, and about two weeks for the Pirates to cut that number down to the 25 they’ll be taking north to start the season. Jo-Jo Reyes is somehow still with the team, so there’s still work to be done.

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Pirates Vs. Yankees Final Score: Jo-Jo Reyes' Awful Relief Appearance Dooms Bucs In Loss

A terrible relief appearance by Jo-Jo Reyes led to a 10-3 loss for the Pirates against the Yankees Tuesday night.

Reyes came on with two on, two outs and a 2-2 score in the fourth inning and allowed a wild pitch, two walks, two singles and a double before finally leaving the game without recording an out. At that point, the Pirates were down 7-2.

Erik Bedard started the game for the Pirates and allowed four runs over 3.2 innings, although some of that was Reyes’ doing. Ryota Igarashi was charged with two runs in the fifth, and then Jared Hughes gave up a run after allowing a leadoff double in the eighth.

Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer in the top of the first, an inning that was shortened when the Pirates flubbed an apparent hit-and-run opportunity and hung Neil Walker out to dry at second.

The Pirates take on the Red Sox Wednesday afternoon at 1:05.

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Pirates Spring Training Schedule This Week Features Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Tigers, Astros

Here’s a look ahead at the Pirates’ Spring Training schedule this week. Tuesday night at 7:05 (MLB.tv, YES Network), the Bucs face the Yankees on the road. The Pirates’ lineup for Tuesday night’s game looks like one the Pirates could use fairly frequently during the regular season (assuming Erik Bedard stays healthy, of course).

Alex Presley LF
Jose Tabata RF
Andrew McCutchen CF
Neil Walker 2B
Garrett Jones 1B
Rod Barajas C
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Clint Barmes SS
Erik Bedard P

On Wednesday, the Pirates host the Red Sox at 1:05 in a game that will be broadcast on ROOT Sports. That kicks off a four-game homestand, with the Bucs taking on the Rays, Tigers and Astros on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, respectively. (The Astros game will be on ROOT Sports.)

Here’s a full Pirates Spring Training schedule.

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Pirates Demote Starling Marte, Others

On Sunday, the Pirates sent five players to the minors, including outfielder Starling Marte, whose brilliant performance so far this spring had Pirates fans buzzing.

The other demotions were outfielder Gorkys Hernandez and pitchers Kyle McPherson, Bryan Morris and Justin Wilson, none of whom were expected to make the team.

Marte hit .520 with three home runs in 25 at bats this spring, and he was regarded as one of the Bucs' top prospects even before that. Nonetheless, Spring Training performances don't usually mean a whole lot. And as promising as Marte is, he draws very few walks and could stand to work on his plate discipline at Class AAA, a level at which he hasn't yet played. As I wrote on Saturday, it's important to keep Marte's spring performance in perspective.

But he's not a finished product yet, and his issues with walks have the chance to be more important going forward than a lot of people think. Remember all the hype when Jeff Francoeur came into the league? Remember how bumpy the first several years of his career actually turned out to be?

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Pirates Vs. Twins: Bucs Nearly No-Hit In 10-0 Loss

The Pittsburgh Pirates struggled mightily in all aspects in their 10-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins Sunday afternoon.

The Pirates were without a hit for the first seven innings, until Brandon Boggs was able to get a hit in the eighth inning. He was thrown out trying to stretch the hit out to a double. Francisco Liriano was the prime culprit of the Pirates' hitting woes, as he struck out six batters in five innings.

Charlie Morton got the start for the Pirates, where he allowed five runs on seven hits while striking out two in three innings. He allowed all five runs in the second inning.

Evan Meek, Juan Cruz, Jared Hughes and Tony Watson did well in relief, as they all pitched clean innings. Chris Leroux and Tim Wood allowed the game to get even more out of hand in the eighth as the two combined to allow five more runs.

The Pirates return to action on Tuesday when they will play the New York Yankees.

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Phillies Vs. Pirates: Starling Marte's Brilliant Spring Continues In 3-2 Victory

Starling Marte and Jake Fox homered off Cliff Lee as the Pirates defeated the Phillies Friday afternoon in Spring Training action, 3-2.

The Marte and Fox homers accounted for most of the Pirates offense, as Kyle Kendrick entered after Lee left and struck out five in 3.1 no-hit innings, but that was enough for the Bucs. Kevin Correia started for Pittsburgh and pitched four strong innings, and he was followed by Evan Meek, Justin Wilson, Kyle McPherson, Danny Moskos and Bryan Morris. Morris allowed two unearned runs in the ninth, but otherwise the Pirates kept the Phillies off the board.

Starling Marte’s 2-for-4 performance continued an excellent spring in which he has hit .500 with three home runs. He still won’t make the big-league team, since the Pirates almost never have anyone skip Class AAA, but his performance has been exciting for Pirates fans, and we might see him in Pittsburgh as early as this summer.

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Pirates Spring Training 2012, Grapefruit League Schedule: Bucs To Face Phillies, Rays, Twins

Here's a look at the Pirates' Spring Training schedule for this weekend.

The Bucs take on the Phillies at 1:05 p.m. on Friday, and they'll have Kevin Correia on the hill to start the game. Here's their lineup.

Starling Marte CF
Clint Barmes SS
Casey McGehee 1B
Rod Barajas C
Neil Walker 2B
Pedro Alvarez 3B
Brandon Boggs RF
Gorkys Hernandez LF
Kevin Correia P

The Pirates host the Rays on Saturday, then face the Twins in Fort Myers on Sunday.

These are all teams the Pirates have seen before in their spring schedule. They're 0-2 against the Phillies and 0-1 against the Rays, and they're 1-1 against the Twins, including their 17-6 drubbing of Minnesota on Thursday.

The Bucs made a series of cuts on Thursday that included infiellders Chase D'Arnaud and Anderson Hernandez. They still have 48 players left in camp, however, which gives them a bit more than two weeks to essentially cut their roster in half. Expect those cuts to come fast and furious in the coming days.

Here's a full Pirates Spring Training schedule.

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Pirates Vs. Twins: Bucs Ride 10-Run First Inning To 17-6 Victory

The Pirates scored 10 runs off Terry Doyle and Anthony Swarzak of the Twins in the first inning, leading to a 17-6 blowout of the Twins on Thursday.

Alex Presley, Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata and Casey McGehee all doubled in the first inning as the Pirates batted around against Doyle, a Rule 5 pick. The Pirates added homers by Presley, Matt Hague and Garrett Jones in the later innings, two of those coming off former Pirate Phil Dumatrait. Presley, Hague and Jones all had three hits each.

Pirates starter Jo-Jo Reyes struggled through 2.1 innings, allowing four runs, but he was so far out in front by the time he came out to pitch that he picked up the win anyway. The Bucs’ relievers generally pitched well in 6.2 innings of work

The Bucs host the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

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Pirates Spring Training: Bucs Cut 10 Players

The Pirates have sent 10 players to the minors in their first major round of cuts in Spring Training. Those players are catchers Tony Sanchez and Ramon Cabrera, infielders Chase D’Arnaud and Anderson Hernandez, outfielder Robbie Grossman, and pitchers Jeff Locke, Rudy Owens, Duke Welker, Mike Crotta and Logan Kensing. The moves reduce the number of players in major-league camp to 48.

There aren’t any huge surprises among these moves, although D’Arnaud and especially Hernandez might have been competitors for the open utility infielder job. These moves would seem to reduce that competition to Yamaico Navarro, Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer, among whom Navarro and Harrison seem to have the best shots, as I noted earlier this week in a piece about the Pirates’ likely 25-man roster coming out of camp.

Josh Harrison is still a strong possibility for the utility job — the Pirates are having him play some shortstop, possibly with the idea that Clint Barmes will play so regularly at that position that they won’t actually need their utility infielder to play shortstop all that well. (I know UZR really liked Harrison’s performance at third last year, but based on what we actually saw, I’d be very surprised if he could play shortstop adequately.) I’m still going to go with Navarro here, though — Alex Presley is the only Pirate with more at bats than Navarro this spring, and Navarro has more offensive upside than Harrison does.

The Pirates play the Twins Thursday at 1:05 p.m.

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Pirates Vs. Orioles: James McDonald Struggles, But Pirates' Offense Keys 11-5 Win

The Pirates’ offense racked up 11 runs in a rout of the Baltimore Orioles in Spring Training action Wednesday, but the big story, at least among those who were present at the game, was James McDonald’s rough start. McDonald gave up five runs in three innings, including solo homers to J.J. Hardy and Mark Reynolds, and he apparently didn’t look at all sharp in doing so.

Clint Hurdle called James McDonald “mediocre” today, said fastball was “up and flat.”

This isn’t something to worry too much about quite yet, since McDonald still has about three weeks before Opening Day, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

The Pirates’ offense had 15 hits, with the bulk of the damage coming off Jake Arrieta, Jim Johnson and Willie Eyre. Alex Presley, Neil Walker, Garrett Jones and Josh Harrison all had two hits apiece.

The Pirates take on the Twins on Thursday at 1:05.

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Pirates Roster: Will Pedro Alvarez Make The Team?

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Phillies Vs. Pirates: Vance Worley, Phils Two-Hit Bucs

The Phillies two-hit the Pirates on Monday en route to a 4-1 victory, as Vance Worley struck out eight batters in four perfect innings to start the game.

Charlie Morton made his spring debut for the Pirates and pitched two scoreless innings, striking out two and scattering four hits. Morton had hip surgery this offseason, but it looks like he should be on track to pitch at the beginning of the season, which is good news.

The Pirates managed only two singles on the game, scoring their lone run on an error in the seventh. Many Pirates were in St. Petersburg playing a game against the Netherlands, however. (The Bucs won that game 8-2.)

Hector Luna and Jimmy Rollins hit home runs for the Phillies.

The Pirates have the day off on Tuesday, and will face the Orioles on Wednesday.

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Pirates Spring Training 2012, Grapefruit League Schedule: Charlie Morton Makes Debut

Here's a look ahead at the Pirates' Spring Training schedule for this week.

On Monday at 1:05 p.m., the Bucs host the Phillies. Charlie Morton, who had hip surgery in the offseason, will make his first appearance in Spring Training. Brad Lincoln and Kyle McPherson were also supposed to pitch, but Lincoln has calf tightness and McPherson has a "dead arm." The calf tightness doesn't sound like anything serious; let's hope the dead arm isn't either.

As is fairly common in Spring Training, the Bucs will play their game Tuesday afternoon without some team members. Also on Tuesday at 1:05 p.m., some members of the Bucs will travel to St. Petersburg to play against the Netherlands in the International Baseball Tournament.

After an off day on Tuesday, the Bucs will travel to face the Orioles on Wednesday and Twins on Thursday. Both games are at 1:05 p.m.

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Pirates Vs. Rays Score: Pirates Allow Two Runs In Ninth, Lose By One

Pirates nonroster invitee Jake Fox’s go-ahead solo home run in the top of the ninth against the Tampa Bay rays went to waste as the Bucs gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning and lost, 4-3.

The Pirates only managed four hits on the afternoon, although two of those wer home runs. In addition to the Fox homer, there was also a blast by Pedro Alvarez in the fifth, Alvarez’s second of the spring.

Kevin Correia pitched three scoreless innings to start the game. Justin Wilson allowed two runs, but Bryan Morris, Daniel Moskos and Jared Hughes kept the Rays off the board until the bottom of the ninth.

Doug Slaten came on in the ninth with a score of 3-2 Pirates, and allowed a single and a double. Then Chris Gimenez hit a ball off Slaten’s glove that ended up in left field, and both runners scored.

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Twins Vs. Pirates: Danny Valencia's Homer Leads Minnesota To Spring Training Victory

Fine games by Casey McGehee and Erik Bedard weren’t enough as the Pirates lost 4-2 to the Minnesota Twins Saturday afternoon.

McGehee, who will likely be part of the Pirates’ bench this year, went 3-for-3 with two doubles and made a couple strong defensive plays at third base, and Bedard allowed one hit and no walks while striking out three in three strong innings to start the game.

Joel Hanrahan entered in the fourth and struck out two batters in his only inning pitched, but Jo-Jo Reyes entered in the fifth and allowed four runs, the last two of which came on a homer by Danny Valencia.

Jason Grilli and Juan Cruz pitched scoreless innings to end the game, as the Pirates used the opportunity to play a number of hitters from minor-league camp. That included infielder Elevys Gonzalez, who had a double in his only at-bat.

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Pirates Vs. Red Sox Final Score: Andrew McCutchen Paces 7-4 Victory

Andrew McCutchen helped the Pirates to a 7-4 Spring Training victory over the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers Friday night.

McCutchen went 3-for-3, singling in the first, then driving in a run with a long double off the Green Monster-like wall in left field in the third, then knocking in another with another double off the wall in the fifth. Meanwhile, other Pirates hit with the authority as well, with Jose Tabata hitting two doubles and Clint Barmes adding one of his own. The bulk of the damage came off Vicente Padilla, who was charged with four runs.

Tony Watson allowed a line-drive homer by David Ortiz, and Doug Slaten gave up another to Darnell McDonald, but the Pirates’ pitchers mostly kept runs off the board. Starter Shairon Martis (who will likely begin the year in the Indianapolis rotation) pitched two scoreless innings, and Chris Resop, Daniel McCutchen and Tim Wood all had scoreless outings as well.

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Pirates Spring Training 2012: Bucs To Take On Red Sox, Twins, Rays This Weekend

Here's the Pirates' schedule as they continue their slate of Spring Training games this weekend. On Friday at 7:05, they play the Red Sox in Fort Myers (MLB.tv, MLB Network, MLB.com). Shairon Martis, a minor-league free agent who will probably be in the Indianapolis rotation this season, will start the game for the Bucs.

Here's the Pirates' lineup against Boston.

Jose Tabata, RF
Clint Barmes, SS
Andrew McCutchen, CF
Garrett Jones, 1B
Nick Evans, DH
Pedro Alvarez, 3B
Brandon Boggs, LF
Eric Fryer, C
Jordy Mercer, 2B

On Saturday, the Bucs host the Twins at 1:05 pm (ROOT Sports). New pitcher A.J. Burnett, who recently suffered an injury in a bunting drill, will return to camp that day, although he won't be pitching anytime in the next couple weeks.

On Sunday, the Bucs travel to Port Charlotte to take on the Rays at 1:05 (and don't forget that Daylight Savings means that game will be an hour earlier than you think).

For more on the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout. Here's a full 2012 Pirates Spring Training schedule.

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Pirates Vs. Phillies: Starling Marte Hit Streak Ends In 10-Inning Loss

The Pirates lost to the Phillies 5-4 in 10 innings as a remarkable streak by Pirates minor-league outfielder Starling Marte came to an end.

Marte homered in the eighth to give him eight straight hits going back to Monday’s game. But he flied out in the 10th to end the streak. So far this Spring, Marte is 9-for-13 with two home runs. Spring Training stats aren’t particularly meaningful, and there’s almost no chance Marte will begin the regular season in the majors, given that he has no Class AAA experience and the Pirates have three regular outfielders in Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata and Alex Presley. But the start Marte has had has been something to behold.

James McDonald (who pitched three innings), Justin Wilson (who had a messy outing, walking in a run) and Jared Hughes gave up four runs in the first five innings, but the Pirates came back with three runs in the sixth. In the bottom of the 10th, minor-leaguer Michael Dubee — whose father is the Pirates’ pitching coach — gave up a walk-off homer to Lou Montanez.

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Blue Jays Vs. Pirates Score: Pedro Alvarez Homers In Spring Training Loss

The Pirates are now 2-3 in Spring Training after losing to the Blue Jays 8-6 Wednesday afternoon. Those six Pirates runs did, however, include a blast by Pedro Alvarez, which is nice to see, since he had struggled in the first few games this Spring. Garrett Jones and Starling Marte also homered for the Bucs, and Jeff Karstens started and pitched three strong innings, striking out one and walking none.

Most of the Blue Jays’ damage was done to Brad Lincoln, who allowed four runs in one inning of work. Jeff Locke, a lefty who made his debut with the Pirates last season, allowed three runs.

The loss was the third Spring Training loss by the Pirates to come against the Blue Jays. Their two wins so far have come against the Orioles and Yankees.

The Pirates play on the road against the Phillies on Thursday and the Red Sox on Friday.

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Pirates Vs. Blue Jays Score: Bucs Lose 8-5, Fall To 0-2 In Spring Training

The Pirates put together a bit more offense on Sunday against the Blue Jays than they did when they were three-hit Saturday in Dunedin, but they still lost, 8-5, thanks in part to some sloppy defense.

The Pirates had three errors, plus a play in which a batter evidently (I listened to the game on radio, but couldn’t watch it) hit a comebacker to Evan Meek, and two runs somehow scored.

New catcher Rod Barajas went 2-for-2 with two RBIs for the Pirates, and Nick Evans hit an opposite-field home run for the Bucs’ first homer of the Spring. (Both games they’ve played so far have had plenty of wind, which means homers have been tough to come by.) Meek allowed four runs, three earned, while starter Erik Bedard gave up two runs in two innings. Shairon Martis, who will likely be in the Indianapolis rotation, allowed two unearned runs.

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Pirates Vs. Blue Jays Score: Bucs Fall 7-1 In Listless First Spring Training Performance

Not that it means much, but the Pirates’ first Spring Training performance was an uninspiring one, as the Bucs failed to do much of anything in a 7-1 loss against the Blue Jays on a windy Saturday afternoon in Dunedin, Fla.

The Pirates’ pitchers (starter James McDonald, officially followed by Brad Lincoln, Chris Resop, Chris Leroux, Tony Watson, Daniel McCutchen and Ryota Igarashi) did strike out nine batters against two walks, with Leroux and Igarashi accounting for five of the nine punchouts. Unfortunately, McDonald gave up two runs in his two innings, Leroux allowed a solo homer by Eric Thames, and Tony Watson allowed three runs.

The Pirates’ offense, meanwhile, didn’t do much of anything, getting just three hits. Starling Marte’s late-inning double was the only one of those three that went for extra bases.

After the Jays officially won the game by setting the Pirates down in the top of the ninth, play continued for an extra half-inning, evidently because the Pirates wanted Juan Cruz to get an inning of work. Cruz pitched a scoreless inning, but that probably won’t appear in the scorebook.

For more on the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout. For more on the Blue Jays, there’s Bluebird Banter.

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Pirates Vs. Blue Jays: Bucs Kick Off Spring Training Slate In Dunedin

The Pirates take on the Blue Jays in Dunedin in their first Spring Training game of 2012 on Saturday at 1:05.

James McDonald will make the start for the Pirates against Brett Cecil of the Jays. Brad Lincoln, Chris Leroux, Tony Watson and Daniel McCutchen are also scheduled to throw for the Pirates.

Here are the lineups.

For the Pirates:

Jose Tabata RF
Clint Barmes SS
Neil Walker 2B
Casey McGehee 1B
Yamaico Navarro 3B
Nate McLouth CF
Jake Fox DH
Gorkys Hernandez LF
Michael McKenry C
James McDonald P

For the Jays:

Yunel Escobar SS
Kelly Johnson 2B
Jose Bautista RF
Adam Lind 1B
Edwin Encarnacion DH
Colby Rasmus CF
Brett Lawrie 3B
Eric Thames LF
J.P. Arencibia C
Brett Cecil P

The Pirates host the Jays in the first official game at McKechnie Field on Sunday, then head to Sarasota to take on the Orioles on Monday.

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Pirates Sign 25 League-Minimum Players, Including Andrew McCutchen

The Pirates announced on Saturday that they had signed the following 25 players to contracts for the 2012 season.

Infielders Chase d’Arnaud, Matt Hague, Josh Harrison, Jody Mercer, Yamaico Navarro and Gustavo Nunez

Outfielders Gorkys Hernandez, Starling Marte and Alex Presley

Catcher Michael McKenry

Pitchers Jared Hughes, Chris Leroux, Brad Lincoln, Jeff Locke, Daniel McCutchen, James McDonald, Kyle McPherson, Bryan Morris, Daniel Moskos, Rudy Owens, Tony Watson, Duke Welker and Justin Wilson

The Pirates also signed Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker to one-year deals for 2012.

There’s nothing to see here, really. Because these players have less than three full years of service time, they don’t have any leverage to bargain for more than the major-league minimum. That includes Andrew McCutchen, although the Pirates will apparently continue to try to work out a long-term contract with him that would keep him in Pittsburgh beyond the end of the 2015 season, when he is currently scheduled to become a free agent. If they do, whatever he signs would replace his deal for this year.

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A.J. Burnett Injury: Pitcher Will Be Out 8-12 Weeks Following Eye Surgery

A.J. Burnett of the Pittsburgh Pirates broke his orbital bone while taking batting practice during Spring Training with the Pirates, and following surgery to fix that problem, he will miss roughly 8-12 weeks of action, which means he could miss roughly 5-7 regular season starts.

When #Pirates say 8-12 wks recovery period, that is being game ready, not resuming throwing. Likely means missing 5-7 starts.

— David Todd (@DTonPirates) March 2, 2012

Pirates GM Neal Huntington had a little bit more information on the steps the organization will use to get Burnett back into the rotation following his surgery, via our Pirates blog Bucs Dugout.

"A.J. will work through the three-step return to pitch progression. The initial step will be to heal from the surgery. Secondly we will recondition his arm and body to where he was prior to the injury. Lastly, we will put A.J. through the same progression as he would have gone through here in spring training."

Burnett figured to be right at the top of the Pirates rotation, so this is a big blow to their pitching staff early in the year.

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Pirates Spring Training 2012, Grapefruit League Schedule: Bucs Start With Two Games Against Jays

Here's a look at the Pirates' Spring Training schedule as games open this weekend. The Pirates play an intrasquad game at McKechnie Field in Bradenton at noon Friday. As long as everyone stays healthy, what happens in that game won't mean a whole lot, but you can check out more information about that here.

On Saturday, the Pirates head to Dunedin to take on the Blue Jays at 1:05. Then on Sunday, both teams will head to McKechnie and play there, starting at 1:05. Erik Bedard will start on Sunday. A.J. Burnett had also been scheduled to pitch that day, but Daniel Moskos will pitch those innings instead, as Burnett is currently shut down with an orbital fracture.

On Monday, the Bucs will travel to Sarasota to take on the Orioles. They'll then have home games against the Yankees and Blue Jays on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

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A.J. Burnett Injury: Pirates Starter's Return Date Unknown, But Could Miss A Couple Weeks Of Regular Season

Rob Biertempfel reports on new Pirates starter A.J. Burnett’s eye injury. We don’t yet know exactly how long he’ll be gone, but it sounds like the most likely scenario is that he’ll return to Spring Training very late, then miss a couple weeks of the regular season while he gets ready to pitch.

“Without knowing all the details, I’d say he’ll probably be out two to four weeks,” said Dr. Robert Schwarcz, director of oculoplastic surgery at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. “A lot depends on what (bones) were broken and whether there was any muscle impingement.”

Even if Burnett makes a rapid recovery, he will be behind the other pitchers in the starting rotation. It’s unlikely he would be ready to pitch a regular-season game after only one or two weeks of spring training workouts.

That sounds about right. Of course it’s possible he’ll have his scheduled surgery to fix his orbital bone and it’ll turn out that his injury is much worse than we imagined. But until I hear otherwise, I’d expect him to miss a couple weeks, or maybe a month. That stinks if you’re a Pirates fan, but until we know more, I think the default assumption should be that this isn’t that big a deal.

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Quiz: How Many Players In Pirates Spring Training Can You Name?

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A.J. Burnett Injures Eye, Pirates Send Him Back To Pittsburgh

Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett bunted a ball that hit him in the eye during a Spring Training drill on Wednesday, and he had to leave the field. An initial report indicated that he was “fine,”, but Burnett is flying back to Pittsburgh Wednesday night to have the eye examined, so evidently he isn’t.

I’m tempted to jokingly blame Pirates manager Clint Hurdle’s bunting fetish for this, but of course all National League pitchers have to bunt. This is one reason I favor the DH in both leagues — not only because I dislike bunting, on an aesthetic level, but because I don’t watch baseball in order to see people do things they’re bad at.

Anyway, in the long run, I’m guessing this won’t be much of an issue, although the fact that the Pirates are sending Burnett all the way back to New York isn’t a good sign.

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Pirates Employee Trevor Gooby Delivers Baby At McKechnie Field

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Brad Lincoln Open To Pitching From Pirates' Bullpen

Starting pitcher and former No. 1 pick Brad Lincoln has taken turns in the Pirates rotation in each of the last two years while bouncing between the big leagues and Pittsburgh's Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. Following the acquisitions of starters Erik Bedard and A.J. Burnett in the offseason, however, Lincoln's chances of making the Pirates' rotation out of spring training this season would appear to be rather slim.

As Lincoln told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Rob Biertempfel, though, he's open to pitching out of the bullpen if that's what keeps him in the big leagues.

"You've got to be open to it," Lincoln said. "You can't be that stubborn guy who (says), 'If I'm not a starter, move me somewhere else.' I'm very open to whatever they want me to do. I take it as a challenge to make that 12-man pitching staff in Pittsburgh, whatever it takes."

Lincoln has a 3-7 record, 5.74 ERA and 54 strikeouts just over 100 innings into his Pirates career. Last season, he was 2-3 with a 4.72 ERA and 29 strikeouts across eight starts and 12 total appearances with the Bucs. If he can continue to improve on those numbers, he should have a fighting chance to head north with the big club.

For more on the Bucs in spring training, be sure to stay tuned to SB Nation Pittsburgh and head over to Bucs Dugout, SB Nation's Pirates blog.

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Pirates Spring Training 2012: Stadium, Grapefruit League Map And More

The Pirates host their Spring Training at McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Florida, just south of Tampa. You can check out a map of all the Grapefruit League sites here. Here's the Pirates' 2012 schedule -- you'll see that they play most of their Spring Training games against other teams that make their homes on the Gulf Coast side, such as the Phillies, Jays and Yankees, who are all in the Tampa / St. Petersburg area, and also the Orioles, Rays, Red Sox and Twins, who all make their homes farther south.

You can find details on McKechnie Field here. If you're planning on heading to Spring Training, consider heading to Pirate City in the morning. That's where the Pirates' minor-league camp is held, and it's also in Bradenton, although it's a few miles from McKechnie. Everything at Pirate City is free to the public. You can go in the morning and watch hundreds of players, minor leaguers and major leaguers alike, running drills on four separate fields. If you go in the second half of March, you can usually stick around in the afternoons and watch several scrimmages going on at the same time. This is your best way of getting an early look at recent Pirates draftees.

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2012 Pirates Spring Training Schedule

I wrote about the Pirates' 2012 Spring Training schedule back in October, but now that camp is open, it's a great time to revisit it. Pitchers and catchers are already in camp; position players will report on Thursday, with the first practice with everyone taking place on Friday.

You can buy tickets to home games at McKechnie Field here.

March 2 Black & Gold Charity Game (split-squad)
March 3 @ Blue Jays (Dunedin)
March 4 Blue Jays
March 5 @ Orioles (Sarasota)
March 6 Yankees
March 7 Blue Jays
March 8 @ Phillies (Clearwater)
March 9 @ Red Sox (Fort Myers)
March 10 Twins
March 11 @ Rays (Port Charlotte)
March 12 Phillies
March 13 Off
March 14 @ Orioles (Sarasota)
March 15 @ Twins (Fort Myers)
March 16 Phillies
March 17 Rays
March 18 @ Twins (Fort Myers)
March 19 Off
March 20 @ Yankees (Tampa)
March 21 Red Sox
March 22 Rays
March 23 Tigers
March 24 Astros
March 25 @ Astros (Kissimmee)
March 26 Orioles
March 27 @ Phillies (Clearwater)
March 28 @ Rays (Port Charlotte)
March 29 Twins
March 30 Rays
March 31 Orioles (split-squad)
March 31 @ Twins (split-squad - Fort Myers)
April 1 @ Blue Jays (Dunedin)
April 2 @ Phillies (in Philadelphia)
April 3 @ Phillies (in Philadelphia)

You'll notice that the Pirates play their final two Spring Training games, both against the Phillies, not in Florida but in Philadelphia. The Pirates' regular season then starts with a series against the Phillies in Pittsburgh, beginning on April 5.

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Image: Pirates Begin Spring Training Workouts In Bradenton

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Image: Pirates' Michael McKenry Getting Ready For Spring Training

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Pirates Spring Training 2012: Bucs Set To Return After Relatively Quiet Offseason

Pirates pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training this Saturday.