North Shore Nine

The Bradenton winds continued to keep the ball flying out of LECOM Park this afternoon, as fans saw another 4 home runs during the game. The game sees the Pirates fall to 1-4 in Spring Training and the Tigers moving above .500 to a 3-2 record.

The game started off promising for the Pirates, on both offense and the pitching side of things. Quinn Priester made his Spring training debut with 2 scoreless innings, recording 1 strikeout and not allowing a single hit or walk. Top pitching prospect Jared Jones relieved him and also kept a clean slate, giving up 0 runs over 1.2 innings of work and striking out a pair. Aroldis Chapman came next and despite giving up a home run to former Pirate Bligh Madris, he rebounded and struck out 3 batters quickly to retire the side. Colin Holderman looked sharp in his singular inning today, striking out 2 while on the mound.

On offense the Pirates 3 runs came from a pair of home runs in the bottom of the 3rd. After being blanked by Tigers starter Tarik Skubal for 2 innings, Prospect Tsung-Che Cheng started the fireworks by launching a 2 run homer to center field. Outfielder Connor Joe followed suit with a home run of his own, his first of Spring Training as well. That would be the only offense the Pirates could muster throughout the game, as the team only got 5 hits and went 0-6 with runners in scoring position. The other notable performance is top hitting prospect Termarr Johnson impressing by reaching base twice, including a double in the top of the 9th.

The Tigers comeback got started in the top of the 5th when Bligh Madris hit a home run off of Aroldis Chapman. The Tigers kept chipping away and tied the game in the 7th inning with a Keston Hiura sac fly and Eddys Leonard doubling a run home. The 8th inning gave Detroit the lead for good, with home runs from Anthony Bemboom and Wenceel Perez giving them the winning runs. Perez’s home run would’ve left the yard in 0/30 parks, Bradenton’s winds are brutal on pitchers. Despite the Pirates getting 2 runners on in both the 8th and the 9th innings, they could not score and the Tigers emerged with a comeback victory at LECOM.

Tune in tomorrow on radio when the Pirates travel to Sarasota to play the Baltimore Orioles. Paul Skenes is making his Spring Training debut against recently acquired ace Corbin Burnes. There is no television broadcast so make sure to tune into North Shore Nine’s Paul Skenes Quad Box on the Youtube Channel.