A.J. Burnett made his 2015 grapefruit league debut Saturday afternoon going two scoreless innings as the Pirates tied the Rays 1-1 in 10 innings at McKechnie Field.
Burnett faced eight batters on the day allowing one hit while hitting another in the first inning before settling down to get the final five outs of his start. Nick Kingham was the other starter making a two-inning appearance allowing two hits and striking out two in a scoreless outting.
Tony Watson, Jared Hughes, Antonio Bastardo, Rob Scahill and Adam Miller combined to throw five scoreless innings while allowing four hits and striking out three.
Brad Lincoln had the only blemish in the boxscore allowing a solo homer to Rays’ minor leaguer Corey Brown in the eighth. He also allowed a walk in his inning pitched.
Steve Lombardozzi scored the Pirates only run in the eighth after doubling and advancing to third on a groundout. Rays reliever Justin O’Conner then tried a pickoff attempt at third which glanced off of Lombardozzi’s helmet allowing him to score.
Gregory Polanco and Willy Garcia added doubles in the game while Starling Marte, Brent Morel and a host of Pirates added with singles in the 10-hit effort.
The Pirates will travel to Dunedin, Fl to face the Rays tomorrow afternoon at 1:05. Casey Sadler will get the start while Stolmy Pimentel, Bobby LaFromboise, John Holdzkom, Jeremy Bleich and Deolis Guerra are also slated to throw.
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(Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Pirates)
