It was a pretty good game until the ninth inning though. The pitching was dominant early on, as the Pirates staff didn't allow a hit until the 5th inning. Maholm, Ohlendorf, Bass, and Carrasco all put up hitless frames. Steven Jackson had some bad defense played behind him, but did give up a home run to Eduardo Nunez, and he finished his day with 3 runs allowed (2 earned). Jack Taschner and Jean Machi had good innings, putting 6 Yankees down in a row. After that it was Vasquez's game to lose, and he did just that.
The offense wasn't too impressive, except in the 7th inning, when Erik Kratz scorched a hanging breaking ball to the left center field gap which drove in 2 runners (Delwyn Young, who was hit by a pitch and Jose Tabata, who hit a soft single over the second baseman's head). Kratz advanced to third when the throw from left missed the cut off man, and he scored on the next batter when Ryan Church grounded out. The Pirates collected only 3 hits all game long, from Andrew McCutchen and then aforementioned Kratz and Tabata.
The guys I was interested to see today were Akinori Iwamura and Jeff Clement. It was weird seeing Aki in a Pirates uniform. I am a pretty big Rays fan, so I usually watch a lot of their games, so it was weird seeing Aki not sporting the Rays blue. Clement is probably the guy I am most intrigued with this year. The reason for that is his offense, but his defense is another pretty big reason to watch him with interest. He isn't experienced at first but he looked pretty solid there today. Early in the game, Ronny Cedeno fielded a ground ball and made a throw that was a couple feet to the right of the bag, which Clement stepped off, caught, and applied the tag very nicely. The next batter hit a grounder to Clement, which he fielded easily and flipped on to Maholm for the out. Two plays in the first inning and I was feeling good about his defense. He looked pretty comfortable out there. One game doesn't prove anything, but at least he didn't mess those two plays up. Keep your eyes on Clement when he's out there this spring, he could be a big part of the future.
3-up:
Erik Kratz (+2): 1/1, 2B, 2 RBI (plus a beautiful throw from his knees from catcher attempting to catch a base stealer)
Ross Ohlendorf (+1): 1 IP, 0 H, 1 K, 7 of 12 pitches for strikes
Jean Machi (+1): 1 IP, 0 H, 2 K
3-down:
Virgil Vasquez (-1): 0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 HRA
Steven Jackson (-1): 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 K
Gorkys Hernandez (-2): 0/2, 1 SO
So there's your recap, here's the live blog we did during the game. Next game is tomorrow at 1:05 against the Atlanta Braves. Charlie Morton, Brian Burres, and Brad Lincoln will all make appearances on the mound. Until next time!