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.