BRADENTON, Fla. — Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert made spring training cameos on Thursday, and the Pirates did not disappoint their football brethren, beating the Detroit Tigers, 8-3, at LECOM Park.
Here’s a quick look at what you need to know in three key areas of the game:
On the mound
Nick Kingham made his third start, allowing three runs, one earned, in three innings of work. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out two. Sloppy defense and a strong breeze did not always help Kingham’s cause.
“Wind’s blowing out towards right,” Kingham said. “You can use that to your advantage — throw in to righties, make them pull the ball, put the ball in the air, it’s not going to go very far. But again, you can only control so much. When the ball gets put in play, it’s out of my hands.”
"Overall, I feel like I'm in a good spot,” he added. “Changeup worked good today. I relied on that. Fastball was falling behind guys, so I just didn't throw the ball well enough to continue to go out for that fourth inning, but overall I feel like I'm heading in the right direction."
Felipe Rivero, George Kontos, Edgar Santana, Kyle Crick, Jack Leathersich and Brett McKinney combined for six innings of one-hit ball.
At the plate
Starling Marte, David Freese and Bryce Brentz homered. Francisco Cervelli hit two doubles and had an RBI. New left fielder Corey Dickerson connected for his first two hits — both singles — in a Pirates uniform.
In the field
Sean Rodriguez, starting in right field, made a nice diving grab in the first inning to rob Leonys Martin of a hit. The strong breeze played some tricks on the defense, though, and the Pirates made four errors, by David Freese, who started at first base, Marte and Rodriguez. The Tigers added three errors of their own.
“We were able to play above the errors today with the bats,” manager Clint Hurdle said.
Up next
Game: Pirates at Phillies, 1:05 p.m.
Where: Spectrum Field, Clearwater, Fla.
TV: MLB Network.
Elizabeth Bloom: ebloom@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1750 and Twitter: @BloomPG.
First Published: March 8, 2018, 10:12 p.m.