Marte/Diaz Power Pirates Past Tigers in 9-5 Spring Training Win

Starling Marte and Elias Diaz each homered in the Pirates 9-5 spring training win over the Detroit Tigers at McKechnie Field in Bradenton Florida.

With the wind blowing out at McKechnie Field in Bradenton Florida, the ball was jumping off the bat and going over the wall. The Pirates and Tigers combined for five home runs on the afternoon in the Pirates 9-5 victory. Today was also the spring training debut for Gerrit Cole, who was dealing with some rib discomfort earlier in the spring.

For Cole, the big factor in today's game was testing that rib and seeing how it felt in game action. Looking at the numbers for Cole does not tell the whole story of the game today. Cole threw 2.0 innings giving up two runs on two hits and striking out one batter. Cole's outing would have been very good if it was not for two bad pitches.

The first batter of the game Anthony Gose started out the game taking a 1-2 pitch from Cole over the wall for the first run of the game. The ball was a routine fly out on any other day, but the wind helped the ball get over the wall. His second mistake came later when former Pirate Casey McGehee crushed a Cole fastball over the wall in left-center field.

Other than those two pitches, Cole had a pretty good outing. He located the ball where he wanted for the most part and was throwing in the mid to low 90's all afternoon. For Cole, this game was a chance to get back into the swing of things facing live batters. While not the opening day starter, Cole will be ready to go for his first start of the season shortly after that. He is looked upon to lead the pitching staff and build off of his successful 2015 season.

Non-roster invitee Jim Fuller was next and he threw a perfect 1-2-3 third inning retiring the side quickly and efficiently. Tony Watson followed and got a little roughed up in his one inning of work. He gave up two runs on three hits while striking out two batters. The big blow to Watson was a two-run home run by Steven Moya. Watson has had a good spring in limited work and will be just fine by the start of the season.

Rob Scahill was next and threw 2.0 innings giving up one run on two hits while walking one and striking out one. Scahill is looking for a spot in the middle of the Pirates bullpen to help bridge the gap between starters and the back-end of the bullpen. For Scahill, it has been an up and down spring with some good outings, like today, and some bad outings, For Scahill it will be a tough battle but he has a shot at making the Pirates 2016 bullpen.

Three non-roster invitees finished out the game as AJ Schugel, Guido Knudson, and Kelvin Marte threw three scoreless innings to end the game. The three pitchers combined to only give up three hits in the last three innings of work and were able to hold the Tigers minor league hitters at bay.

Overall, the pitching staff did pretty well today despite giving up five runs. The wind didnt help matters on the mound, but besides a couple of bad pitches, the Pirates pitchers were effective today. They got the work they needed to get done finished and kept the Pirates in the ball game when it counted later in the game.

The true story of the day however was the offense. The Pirates scored 4 of their nine runs via the long ball today and showed the ability to hit with runners on base. many times we saw batters moving runners over or getting that timely extra base hit right when the Pirates needed it. This will be key as the season goes on with the decrease in power numbers. Small ball will be the strategy the Pirates have to work with in order to succeed in 2016.

The big performer on the day was Starling Marte. He went 2 for 3 on the afternoon with three RBI and a run scored. The big hit for Marte came in the third inning when he hit a three run home run off Tigers starter Matt Boyd that gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead scoring Jordy Mercer and Andrew McCutchen. Marte would add a single later in the day to complete his afternoon.

That four run third inning really helped the Pirates establish themselves in the game. Up to that point the Pirates only had one hit, a lead off single by Josh Harrison, and they looked pretty down at the plate. Then, with one out, Harrison hit his second double of the day which was followed by a bloop single by Mercer putting runners at first and third with one out. Then McCutchen produced an RBI single that put the Pirates on the board. Then Marte hit the big three-run home run to conclude the inning.

Elias Diaz also had a good day as he went 2 for 4 with a two-run home run and 3 RBI on the day. His home run came in the eighth inning and scored Dan Gamache. It gave the Pirates the insurance runs they needed and put them ahead for good making the score 8-5. Diaz's bat has been coming around this spring as he is currently hitting .471 in grapefruit league action. He will start the year as the everyday catcher down in Triple A Indianapolis so he can grow and continue to develop.

Today was a good day for the Pirates offense as they broke out and scored nine runs on the day. It is a good sign for things to come. I was especially excited to see the long ball coming into play with the home runs from Marte and Diaz. While power will not be the forte of the 2016 Pirates, it is always nice to see it when it helps the Pirates win a big ball game.

Up next the Pirates will travel to JetBlue Park to take on the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox will send right-hander Joe Kelly to the mound. Kelly is currently 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in spring training in two games pitched. The Pirates will counter with right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, who is currently 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in five innings pitched. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.