Jeff Locke’s quest for a spot in the Pirates rotation took a hit during Tuesday’s 13-7 loss to the Houston Astros.
On a day when Francisco Liriano was revealed to be the Opening Day pitcher in Cincinnati, Locke pitched three-plus innings, allowing seven hits, six runs and a walk.
“I just left some pitches over the plate,” Locke said. “They just fell in.”
Locke is battling with Vance Worley for the final position in the Pirates rotation and currently, the Spring Training statistics favor Worley, who has a 3.00 ERA to Locke’s 9.00 ERA. Locke has allowed 11 hits and eight runs in eight innings.
“Whatever they decide to do, I’m on board with it,” Locke said. “I just want to find any way to help this team win, and I think that’s the way everybody else feels, too.”
Manager Clint Hurdle has not made his decision yet as to who will take the spot.
The Pirates fell to 6-6-2 on the spring with the loss. Locke is now 1-2 on the spring and Roberto Hernandez is now 2-0 with the win for the Astros.
Deolis Guerra relieved Locke and also was hit hard. Guerra pitched a third of an inning allowing three hits, three runs and a walk.
Jared Hughes and Rob Scahill each pitched scoreless innings. John Holdzkom allowed his first run of the spring on an opposite field home run from Carlos Correa. Jason Castro also homered for the Astros. Holdzkom also walked and struck out a batter in his 1.1 innings. Colin Balester got two outs with zeroes across the board.
Neil Walker hit his first home run in the third inning with a three-run home run to right field. Walker, who has resided in Pittsburgh, ironically has a .412 average this spring. Walker was 2-for-3 at the plate with both a double and the home run.
Both teams combined for seven runs in the third inning.
The battle for the third catcher continued between Tony Sanchez and Elias Diaz in Tuedsay’s contest. Diaz was the catcher for the final three innings and had a two-run single in the seventh inning. Sanchez was a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. Sanchez is now batting .563 in the spring and Diaz .500.
Charlie Morton threw 68 pitches in four innings against minor league players at Pirate City earlier in the morning.
Liriano meanwhile was officially announced to start Opening Day and it will be his second consecutive time with the honor. The last time that happened was in the 2005-06 season. Previous Opening Day starters were: Oliver Perez, Zach Duke, Ian Snell, Paul Maholm, Duke, Kevin Correia, Erik Bedard, A.J. Burnett, Liriano and this season Liriano once again.
Gerrit Cole and A.J. Burnett will be the second and third starters respectively and thus also projected to pitch in Cincinnati. This means that Cole is on track to start the home opener at PNC Park on April 13 against the Cincinnati Reds.
“Frank has earned it in our minds,” Hurdle said. “When Frank’s been healthy, he has been just a very solid anchor in our rotation. We had a lot of conversation, deservedly so. We just feel this is our best fit getting out of the blocks.”
Because Hurdle views Burnett and Morton as similar pitchers, the winner of the Worley-Locke battle will be the fourth pitcher. Morton is expected to be ready in time for the season to start and earn the fifth and final spot in the rotation.
The Pirates will host the Detroit Tigers at 6:05 Wednesday. Burnett will get the start for the Pirates and Shane Greene will do the same for the Tigers. Mark Melancon, Tony Watson, Antonio Bastardo and Casey Sadler also are expected to pitch for the Pirates. The game will be broadcast on Root Sports, 93.7 The Fan and the Pirates Radio Network.
