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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