The Pirates did better than the day before at LECOM Park, but only slightly, which means they got blown out again, this time by the Twins, 10-1
Clay Holmes was good in his first and third innings; not so much in the second when he gave up a 3-run homer to Lamonte Wade. That was it, in all Holmes gave up the 3 runs on 3 hits, no walks, 3 strikeouts, but that was enough, since the punchless Pirates struggled at the plate again totaling just 4 hits.
After Felipe Vasquez blew through a 1-2-3 fourth inning thowing in the upper 90s (except for an 86 MPH breaking ball that froze Wade for a called third strike), Keone Kela came on for the fifth. Kela has had better innings. He gave up 4 runs on 4 hits, 3 of them homers, before getting an out. The wind was blowing out but had no effect. All 3 were crushed and all Kela could do was throw up his hands and appeared to laugh after the third one.
Not to be outdone, in the eighth inning bullpen hopeful Tyler Lyons gave up a long 3-run homer to a Twins prospect named Joe Cronin, who at least has a Hall of Fame name, but he is no relation to the shortstop and manager from the30's and 40's.
Chris Archer is scheduled to make his second Grapefruit League start Sunday in Tampa against the Yankees. Former Rule 5 pick Nick Burdi is also expected to pitch. Former Pirate J.A. Happ scheduled for New York.
