Blogs

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Pirates are back at it after having the day off Thursday. It was just their second off-day of the spring and they’ll get one more on March 26. The Pirates are at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers ready to take on the Boston Red Sox at 1:05 p.m. [...]

BRADENTON, Fla. — Today’s game between the Pirates and the Minnesota Twins actually came down to the ninth inning. That’s a rarity for a spring training game. Pirates second baseman Anderson Machado knocked in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning when he ripped a single to right field. Jeff Salazar scored [...]

BRADENTON, Fla. — Pirates starting pitcher Tom Gorzelanny was in the mix for the final two spots of the starting pitching rotation. Or so he thought. Gorzelanny’s tryout is over — for now anyway — as he was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis Wednesday morning. In four starts and nine innings this spring, Gorzelanny had a [...]

TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees used a six-run third inning and a dominant performance by starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia to hand the Pirates a 9-2 loss Tuesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Sabathia pitched four innings allowing one run, one hit and striking out seven batters. Yankees designated hitter Hideki Matsui provided the offensive highlights [...]

TAMPA, Fla. — This is Tricia Lafferty here. As Rob mentioned last night, I will be filling in at Pirates’ spring training for the next week. Tonight, we’re at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa for a 7:15 game against the Yankees. The Pirates will face former teammate Xavier Nady — who will play right [...]

BRADENTON, Fla. — Eric Hinske (ribcage bruise) played in a minor league game today and will do so again Tuesday. Hinske is penciled in as the designated hitter Wednesday for the Pirates’ game against the Twins. • This could be a good omen for Andy LaRoche: he’s gotten a hit in all 12 games in [...]

BRADENTON, Fla. — Brandon Moss wore a wide smile tonight as he reported on the progress of his injury rehab. “Thumbs up!” Moss said. Moss took some hacks in the batting cage today for the first time since spraining and bruising his right thumb. He is slated to take live batting practice Tuesday. If all [...]

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pirates this afternoon made eight cuts, including third baseman Pedro Alvarez. Alvarez and pitcher Ron Uviedo were optioned to Class A Lynchburg. Right-hander Jimmy Barthmaier was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. Pitcher Jeff Sues and catcher Steve Lerud were optioned to Double-A Altoona. Juan Mateo, Shelby Ford and Daniel McCutchen were reassigned [...]

BRADENTON, Fla. — Pedro Alvarez was the first casualty this afternoon when the Pirates began a big round of roster cuts. Alvarez, the Pirates’ first-round draft pick last year, was called into manager John Russell’s office around 1 p.m. and was told he’s being reassigned to minor league camp. “It was a lot of fun,” [...]

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Pedro Alvarez did his first home-run trot in a Pirates uniform this afternoon. Alvarez launched a three-run shot off the Rays’ Joe Nelson. The ball smacked off the batter’s eye screen behind center field. I wonder how far would the ball have gone if the screen wasn’t in the way? Dead [...]