Ohlendorf Pitches Well, Pirates Lose To Twins

Photo Credit:  Dave Arrigo/Pirates

The Pirates gave up two RBI doubles to Minnesota’s Danny Valencia on Wednesday, which would prove to be the difference in the game as the Twins beat our Buccos, 4-2 at McKechnie Field.

Both of Valencia’s two-baggers occurred with two outs, in the first and third innings respectively, which would give the Twins the two run lead and would eventually be the difference in the game.

The Pirates finally got on the board in the fifth inning when Jose Tabata’s single scored Andrew Lambo.  After the Twins piled on two more runs, Pittsburgh’s Steve Pearce scored on an RBI single by Dusty Brown in the 9^th inning.  Unfortunately, the Pirates couldn’t muster more of a comeback, and the Twins closed out the game for the victory.

Despite the loss, there were several positives on Wednesday for the Pirates.  Ross Ohlendorf made his first appearance of the spring and pitched very well for the Buccos.  He faced eight batters, and struck out the side in the first inning. 

“I felt really good with how I was throwing,” Olendorf said. “My arm feels really good.  Right now, to me, that’s the most important thing.  I was really happy with it.”

Tabata also had a strong game for Pittsburgh, going 3-3 at the plate with an RBI.  Ryan Doumit and Pedro Alvarez also added hits for the Bucs.

In all, the Pirates used nine pitchers on Wednesday, none of which pitched more than two innings.  The majority of the staff pitched a strong game, with the exception of Joel Hanrahan, who gave up a run on three hits through just 2/3 of an inning, including a solo homerun by Luke Hughes in the sixth inning.

The Pirates will travel to Dunedin, Florida tomorrow to take on the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:05pm.  Charlie Morton will earn the start for the Buccos, and is scheduled for a three-inning performance.  Brad Lincoln, Morton’s lead competitor so far for the team’s final rotation spot, will also see action on Thursday.

And...

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!