Back at it again here in Bradenton for the Tigers vs the Pirates at LECOM Park. Rich Hill on the mound for the bucs going against Michael Lorenzen. The score remained tied at 0 until the top of the 3rd where Akil Baddoo stole home to take a 1-0 lead for the Tigers after a planned rundown from Ryan Kriedler gave Baddoo time and space to steal home. The Pirates got 1 right back after Bryan Reynolds brought home Kevin Plawecki after a forced double play ball to tie things at 1. Will Crowe came in to start the 4th and immediately gave up a solo shot to Nick Maton for Detroit to regain the lead. Kerry Carpenter followed that up later in the 4th with a triple to bring on in another run and make it 3-1. Yohan Ramirez came in for the 5th and gave up a run as Andre Lipcius brought home a man to continue the Tigers momentum. In the bottom of the 6th, Jack Suwinski put one up to right field to bring a man in and cut the lead to 4-2 followed by Smith-Njigba and Marcano each getting RBIs to tie it all 4. In the 7th, the Tigers put their foot on the gas and scored 5 runs followed by 1 more in the 8th. The score remained 10-4 until the 9th inning where the late game buccos tried to comeback led by a Drew Maggi 3 run home run but ultimately fell just short 10-7. The Pirates will be back at it Saturday as the New York Yankees come to town. Check out some highlights below.

Today’s Bright Spots

Nick Gonzales: He has really come into his own this spring. His defense and bat have looked the best amongst all Pirates players and I could see a scenario where he could push to make this 26 man roster at this rate. 

Kevin Plawecki: In my eyes, he has this backup spot locked down. He went 1 for 2 today and has hit .222 this spring which is pretty average for a catcher but that’s all the Pirates need.