Morning Rundown: Pirates improve to 5-2 on spring after Friday win against the Rays
Mitch Keller pitches three shutout innings
The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 to improve to 5-2 on the spring. Mitch Keller made his second start of the exhibition schedule, this time getting up to 38 pitches through three innings. He allowed two hits and a walk while striking out another batter.
David Bednar and Colin Holderman pitched an inning each, with the former striking out a pair of batters in his frame.
Braxton Ashcraft made his spring debut, pitching 1.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out two. According to statcast, his fastball reached 99 mph and he got four whiffs overall.
Kyle Nicolas pitched the eighth and minor leaguer Cristofer Melendez tossed a shutout ninth to earn the save.
Back-to-back doubles from Nick Gonzales and Isiah Kiner-Falefa opened up the scoring for the Pirates in the second inning. Tommy Pham scored on a passed ball and Endy Rodriguez got credit for a RBI on a fielder’s choice and throwing error that scored Reynolds.
The Pirates will head to Sarasota to face the Orioles on Saturday. Paul Skenes will make his first start of the spring after an earlier game got rained out.
Saturday’s game will be available on MASN, SportsNet-PIT and the MLB Network and has a scheduled first pitch time of 1:05 pm ET. Left-handed pitcher Cade Povich will get the start for the Orioles.
Notable prospect performances
Dylan Beavers: 1-2, R, HR, 2 RBI
Roman Anthony: 0-1, R, 3 BB, RBI
Carson DeMartini: 1-2, R, HR, 2 RBI
Brandon Sproat: 2 IP, K
Jacob Wilson: 3-3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B
Hayden Birdsong: 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K
Arjun Nimmala: 1-3, 2B
Cole Young: 1-2, 2B, RBI
LHP Steve Hajjar retired
Top Exit Velocity
Ke’Bryan Hayes - 108.4 mph - Groundout
Nick Gonzales - 107.2 mph - Double
Bryan Reynolds - 102.4 mph - Single
Isiah Kiner-Falefa - 99.3 mph - Lineout
Bryce Johnson - 98.7 mph - Flyout
Top Pitch Velocity
Kyle Nicolas - 99.2 mph
Braxton Ashcraft - 99 mph
Kyle Nicolas - 98.7 mph
Braxton Ashcraft - 98.7 mph
Kyle Nicolas - 98.4 mph
Most Whiffs
Braxton Ashcraft - 6
Mitch Keller - 4
David Bednar - 3
Kyle Nicolas - 2
Colin Holdmerna - 1
Cristofer Melendez - 1
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Would love to see Ashcroft log 60+ innings in relief with the Pirates this year. Keep him as a reliever and maybe a few years down the road, after he proves he can remain healthy and effective, do the transition back to starting which seems to be a trend now
Happy Skenes Day, take 2.