Santana has knee incident

First baseman has a slip during game

TAMPA, Fla. — Although the Pirates enjoyed a longoverdue offensive explosion, the biggest storyline to come out of their 9- 6 victory against the Yankees on Thursday at George Steinbrenner Field had nothing to do with how they swung the bats.

The most notable moment involved a defensive play to close the third inning, when Carlos Santana attempted to field a short pop fly, slipped and nearly injured his left knee. The scare had the Pirates’ $6.725 million offseason addition down in clear pain. Assistant athletic trainer Tony Leo and manager Derek Shelton eventually helped Santana off the field.

The Pirates later announced Santana was removed from the game after three innings due to left knee discomfort and was being treated, and he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette a few innings later he felt fortunate to avoid anything serious.

“It was crazy, but thank God it’s nothing bad,” Santana said. “Little cramp inside, but I think it’ll feel good. Have to see what’s going on [Friday] and how my knee feels. We’ll see if I need to take a couple days [off] or not.”

Although Santana has had a quiet spring, hitting just .167, his value to the young Pirates has been extremely high. The 36-yearold, who’s been mentoring younger Latin players such as Oneil Cruz and Rodolfo Castro, said he’s also not sweating his slow start.

As for the game, the Pirates went 15 up, 15 down through five innings, then erupted.

Oneil Cruz doubled home a run in the sixth. Drew Maggi clobbered his teamhigh third home run of the spring an inning later, sending a full-count changeup over the left-field fence for a two- run shot that highlighted his two-hit night. Travis Swaggerty, another of the Pirates’ hottest hitters this spring, added an RBIsingle. In the eighth, Sammy Siani drove in a run with a single, and Miguel Andujar picked up his second double for the Pirates’ seventh run. Carter Bins extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 9-5 with his two-run double.

On the mound

It was a night of fits and starts for Johan Oviedo, who made his fourth appearance and third start this spring. Oviedo struggled with his control and issued three walks.

The Yankees snagged a 2-0 lead in the first when second baseman DJ LeMahieu singled, and left fielder Aaron Judge crushed a fourseamer that Oviedo threw middle-in 408 feet off the wall in center for a run-scoring double. Cruz’s throwing error put Judge on third, and he scored on designated hitter Giancarlos Stanton’s grounder to second base.

At the plate

It was a brutal start for the Pirates. Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt twirled five perfect innings, striking out seven, before Pittsburgh finally broke through in the sixth inning. Andujar cracked a leadoff double and scored when Cruz, with two outs, poked an outside sinker to left field for a double of his own. In the eighth, Andujar tomahawked a cutter on a line drive to right.

Up next

The Rays visit LECOM Park on Friday, and minor leaguer Osvaldo Bido gets the start.