SPRING REPORT
TIGERS 5 PIRATES 2
BRADENTON, Fla. — It’s certainly understandable given how late he signed (March 12) and the fact that he had thrown just two spring innings to this point, but Trevor Cahill struggled in the Pirates’ loss to the Detroit Tigers Friday at LECOM Park.
Was Cahill the reason the Pirates dropped a second consecutive game? No, probably not. But the outing may have tempered expectations on Cahill relative to maybe breaking camp as a member of the starting rotation.
Cahill hasn’t reached his peak form, and that’s OK.
The Pirates (12-12-1) entered the game leading all Grapefruit League teams in hits but finished with just six against Detroit, one over the final four innings. It also didn’t help that the Pirates went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.
On the mound
It probably wasn’t what Tyler Anderson wanted in his last outing before the regular season. It started with a mistake pitch from the left-hander, an 89-mph four-seamer he left up in the zone. Left fielder Robbie Grossman knocked it over the fence for a homer.
That was the only run Anderson allowed, although he danced between raindrops thanks to two walks in the third and back-to-back hits to open the fourth.
Cahill got five outs while walking three and giving up three runs. The right-hander walked the first two batters he faced, allowed a run-scoring single and a sacrifice fly.
On the positive side, Duane Underwood Jr. gave the Pirates two scoreless innings of relief, striking out three.
At the plate
The big hit of the day belonged to Colin Moran, who took a 1-2 slider from Tigers starter Matthew Boyd and deposited it in the left-field bleachers for his second home run of spring training.
Interesting that it came against a lefty; throughout his career, Moran has a .357 slugging percentage against southpaws compared to a .441 mark against righties.
Another day, another Kevin Newman hit – this one a double down the left-field line in the second inning. Adam Frazier doubled, his ninth extra-base hit of the spring, which is one shy of Josh Bell for the MLB lead.
Contrastly, Gregory Polanco went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and now is 1 for 15 this spring following a 7-for-16 start.
Up next
Game: Pirates vs. Boston Red Sox, 1: 05 p.m. Saturday, LECOM Park, Bradenton, Fla. Pitchers: RHP Chad Kuhl for Pirates; RHP Matt Andriese for Red Sox. Watch/listen: AT&T SportsNet; KDKA-FM (93.7).