BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pirates defeated the Yankees 9-1 on Tuesday afternoon at LECOM Park in Grapefruit League play. Paul Skenes was the game’s winning pitcher, while Cam Schlittler suffered the loss.
Each of the nine starters in the Pirates lineup logged at least one hit in the victory. Pittsburgh finished with 13 hits total, as Ji Hwan Bae, Billy Cook and Nick Gonzales each logged a multihit effort. Here are the Post-Gazette’s three takeaways from the contest:
Same old Skenes
Paul Skenes looked like his usual self Tuesday afternoon, throwing four innings of one-run ball against a top-heavy Yankees lineup that featured the likes of regular starters Ben Rice, Anthony Volpe, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham.
“Felt good,” Skenes said. “Nice to pitch at home finally in a real spring training game, not the breakout game. That was my first spring training outing at home in two years. But felt good. Nice to get my volume up. Nice to finish the fourth, wanted to go back out for the fifth but just gotta be more efficient. It’s just getting the body ready, repping it out because we’re still getting used to it. Lot of weak contact, missing barrels. Just gotta fine tune the misses a little bit.“
Skenes threw 74 pitches in his outing, the most of any Pirate this spring. He surrendered one run, which was earned, on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out five. The lone run he allowed came on a solo homer from Grisham in the top of the fourth. Yankees batters swung at 35 of Skenes’ offerings Tuesday, whiffing 11 times. His most effective pitch was, per usual, the four-seam fastball, which generated seven whiffs and accounted for three of his five strikeouts.
"The switch never goes off with him,” manager Derek Shelton said. “When he gets on the rubber, it's consistent. Whether it's a spring training game or it's a game at Yankee Stadium at the end of the year, his competitiveness and his intensity is consistent all the time, and that's what makes him what he is."
Watch ’em fly
The Pirates took their lead in the bottom of the third inning thanks to a pair of homers. The first came from Cook, who smashed a 1-1 slider on the outside corner over the right field wall for his first long ball of the spring. Cook, who entered Tuesday’s contest hitting just 1 for 15 with six walks and five strikeouts, went on to have a solid day overall at the plate, finishing 2 for 2 with the homer, a single and a hit by pitch.
"I think, like we were talking about yesterday, having some adjustments made at the plate but being able to drive the ball at the plate, just a really good at-bat,” Shelton said. “Then he came back the next at-bat and drew a walk that was a really good at-bat, so it's really encouraging."
Cook’s long ball was quickly upstaged by the top power threat in the Pirates lineup, Oneil Cruz. After falling behind in the count 0-2, Cruz took advantage of a slider Schlittler left over the middle of the plate, sending it over the right field wall with an exit velocity of 114.9 mph. The homer marked Cruz’s third of the spring. All but one of his Grapefruit League hits this year have been round trippers.
Atta boy, Bae
Bae continued his strong spring Tuesday, smacking a pair of doubles in four at-bats and scoring two runs. Slated at the top of the order, both of Bae’s two-base hits came from him using his wheels to stretch out another 90 feet.
"He had the ball that kicked off Volpe's glove that was a single and because it kicked, he made it into a double,” Shelton said. “And then he hit the other double, but I think his swing looks considerably better than it has in the past."
Through Tuesday’s action, Bae leads all Pirates with 10 hits, one more than both Joey Bart and DJ Stewart. While infield singles remain a large part of his game, Bae has been barreling the ball a bit more than usual, logging three doubles and a homer so far.
Roster moves
Following Tuesday’s game, the Pirates announced they had optioned RHP Braxton Ashcraft, RHP Mike Burrows, RHP Chase Shugart, INF Liover Peguero, INF Tsung-Che Cheng and INF/OF Enmanuel Valdez to Triple-A Indianapolis. Additionally, RHP Isaac Mattson, RHP Ryder Ryan, RHP Eddy Yean, C Aaron McKeithan, C Omar Alfonzo and INF Malcom Nunez were all reassigned to minor league spring training.
Up next
Thanks to their first off day of the Grapefruit League calendar Wednesday, the Pirates will be back in action Thursday, as they travel to Fort Myers, Fla., to take on the Twins at 1:05 p.m. Bailey Ober will start for Minnesota, while Bailey Falter will start for Pittsburgh. Fans can view the contest on Pirates.com.
First Published: March 11, 2025, 7:58 p.m.
Updated: March 12, 2025, 2:03 a.m.
