Pirates No-Hit By Orioles
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates saw no offense whatsoever in their 4-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla., as they had no hits.
The defeat for the Pirates (14-13) makes it four losses in their past five games and three consecutive. They suffered road defeats, 5-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays on March 19, 8-6 to the Detroit Tigers on March 17 and 2-1 to the Boston Red Sox on March 21, with their only win coming vs. the Philadelphia Phillies at home on a walk-off home run on March 18, 3-2.
Pittsburgh also finishes 5-2 against Baltimore in the Grapefruit League, making it the team they've faced the most in spring training.
The Pirates had just three base runners all game, with center fielder Oneil Cruz, designated hitter Andrew McCutchen and first baseman DJ Stewart reaching base on a walk.
Pittsburgh struck out 10 times in this defeat, with catcher Endy Rodríguez and third baseman Jack Brannigan striking out twice, and left fielder Ji Hwan Bae, center fielder Jase Bowen, center fielder/first baseman Matt Gorski, second baseman Adam Frazier and McCutchen striking out once.
The Pirates had good pitching early on, as Paul Skenes went 3.1 innings allowing just a hit and a walk with four strikeouts. Ryan Borucki came in relief for two outs and both Tim Mayza and Colin Holderman pitched scoreless fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
Baltimore eventually got on the board in the top of the seventh inning against Pirates relief pitcher Peter Strzelecki.
Strzelecki hit Orioles center fielder Ramon Laureano and then Enrique Bradfield Jr. came in and ran for him, stealing second base and then third base.
Shortstop Jackson Holliday would walk and then designated hitter Dylan Carlson singled, bringing home Bradfield. Second baseman Livan Soto singled afterawrds, scoring Holliday, and then infielder Vimael Machin grounded into a double play, scoring Carlson, making it 3-0.
The Orioles got one more run in the top of the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly and earned the 4-0 victory. They had seven pitchers allow no-hits in the win.
Pittsburgh heads out on the road for its final two spring training games, as they face the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla. on March 23 with first pitch set for 1:07 p.m.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.