MLB Spring Training: Friday was a day for a deal… or two
By Bill Felber
MLB Spring Training Recap: March 6
Winner: Pittsburgh Pirates offense
The Pirates offense is just plain weird.
Through 14 MLB spring training games, the Pirates are just 3-11, and solidly at the bottom of the Grapefruit League standings. Yet in two of their three victories, Pirate hitters have chased 32 runs across the plate.
Even more curiously, most of the real damage is being done by the yannigans.
Win No. 3 came Friday against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Pirates actually trailed Toronto 10-7 through six innings, before opening up for a dozen runs in the seventh and eighth. The final score was 19-13.
The Pirate subs – the guys who entered the game after the starters got their three at-bats – accumulated 10 of the team’s 19 hits and piled up 11 RBIs. Phillip Evans, a non-roster infielder, showed the way with a seventh-inning grand slam and an eighth-inning base hit.
Winner: Lucas Giolito, Chicago White Sox pitcher
The buzz around Sox camp has Giolito pegged as the opening day starter. That had seemed up for debate as Giolito spent the spring’s first two weeks on the sidelines recovering from a chest muscle strain.
But making his spring debut Friday against the Cubs, Giolito suggested he may be ready for opening day after all.
Granted, it was just one inning. But he struck out one, did not allow a hit, and afterward described the experience of getting back on the field as a lot of fun.”