PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Another late-inning rally – this time in the bottom of the 8th – gave the Pirates their third straight Grapefruit League win, 4-3 over the Red Sox at LECOM Park.
19 year-old Lolo Sanchez – who spent last season at low-A West Virginia – singled with 2 outs to cap a 3-run rally pulled off by younger players. Earlier in the rally, 20 year old ONeil Cruz – the intriguing 6-6 stringbean infielder – drew a walk with the bases loaded. "To see his smile when he was in the game, Lolo Sanchez, all those guys' "Clint Hurdle says, "it's fun."
The Pirates' first run came in the second inning when Colin Moran doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and came home on Kevin Newman's fly ball to medium right field. Moran made a nifty move to get around the tag when the throw was up the third base line.
Jordan Lyles allowed one run in his 2 innings – a Bryce Brentz bomb into a stiff wind which was blowing in today maybe harder than it was blowing out Sunday. "Just a good piece of hitting," lamented Lyles who otherwise was relatively pleased with his first time out in a new uniform working mostly off fastballs and change-up although he did use his go-to curveball when he needed an out in the 2nd inning.
Melky Cabrera led off playing left field and doubled his first time up. Francisco Cervelli went 1-for-2 playing first base and Hurdle says you may see more of that this spring but come the regular season - "he's our catcher," Hurdle says.
Trevor Williams, Richard Rodriguez, Felipe Vasquez and Keone Kela all threw in a simulated game earlier in the day at Pirate City. Williams and Rodriguez both pitched 2 innings, Vasquez and Kela 1 apiece.
The Bucs make the relatively long trip to Fort Myers Tuesday to play the Twins. Tope pitching prospect Mitch Keller is expected to start with Tyler Lyons and Michael Feliz also scheduled to pitch.
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