Jays down Pirates, grab first Grapefruit League victory

BRADENTON, Fla. — Blue Jays bench boss DeMarlo Hale knew it was coming, but he couldn’t help but laugh anyway.

The old spring training panic question.

“Are you relieved that your team finally picked up a win after starting the season 0-4?” Hale was asked after the Jays spanked the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-0 at LECOM Park on Tuesday afternoon.

“Well, let’s just say this,” said Hale, who filled in for manager John Gibbons who was under the weather. “I do appreciate and we appreciate the fans and their passion but we also understand that the wins and losses count during the season much more than spring training. But they’re going to continue to be passionate I’m sure.

“It’s understandable,” Hale continued when told that part of the fan base seemed to be getting nervous over the club’s slow start in Grapefruit League action. “They’re baseball fans, they like their team and we appreciate their support definitely. It’s grown over the last three years tremendously and they follow us much more too, even on the road. It’s good to hear them down here in spring training too.”

At least half the 4,804 fans at the Pirates’ home spring training field were Toronto supporters.

The Jays lineup — which consisted of two regulars in Ezequiel Carrera and Kendrys Morales — exploded offensively and was solid on the mound as well. Four Jays — Josh Palacios, Mike Ohlman, Jon Diaz and Matt Dean — smacked home runs with short stop Gregorio Petit hitting two hits in three at-bats, including a double, with two RBI.

“Just a good game,” said Hale. “They swung the bats and I think six of our first eight runs came with two outs, so that’s always a good sign when you can have some twoout RBIs. The pitchers made some pitches when they had to. At the end of the day it’s about the workload and really it was a good workload for this team.

“The pitchers were down in the zone and that’s what I look for, down in the zone and commanding at least two of their pitches.”

Starter Lucas Harrell picked up the win, going two innings without giving up a hit, striking out three. The Jays paraded out seven more pitchers, all of whom threw an inning without giving up a run, limiting Pittsburgh to four hits. Pirates reliever Tony Watson took the loss.

“I thought Harrell was good down in the zone, as was (Casey) Lawrence,” said Hale. “Even when they had some men on bases they made some pitches to minimize the damage and get out of innings.”