For my third of five games I will be covering here in Bradenton, the New York Yankees took the trip to Bradenton to play the Pirates. Ryan Weber of the Yankees faced off against Johan Oviedo of the Pirates. Oviedo was done after 3 innings only allowing 2 hits while striking out 3. Things started to heat up in the bottom of the 3rd when Tucipita Marcano got a single to start the inning off. The lead off man and Pirates all star Ke’Bryan Hayes took Weber to deep center to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. Bryan Reynolds, the next batter after Hayes, decided to one up his all star teammate with a solo shot of his own to make the game 3-0. After that, the scoring came to a halt and the game ended by the score of 3-0. The Pirates pitchers only allowed a total of 5 hits across 9 innings of action striking out a total of 13 Pinstripe batters. Jose Hernandez, Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski, Dauri Moreta, and Wei-Chieh Huang were all awarded with holds and Cody Bolton earned the save. The buccos are back at it again tomorrow at LECOM Park as the Atlanta Braves come to town. Check out some highlights below.

Bright Spots

Johan Oviedo: He played like a MLB caliber starter today and is really pushing for a spot on this roster come the end of the month. He had great control of everything today and made the pinstripe boys look silly. He was beyond impressive today. 

Cody Bolton: He’s making the transition to the bullpen this year and he looked really comfortable in a closer position. His fastball hit high 90s and he fanned 2 with some beautiful curveball work. I feel Bolton can be a savior of the Pirates bullpen come mid season. 

Chris Owings: Despite striking out twice, Owings seems to be capable of being a solid backup shortstop come opening day. He had 1 hit in the gap in the beginning of the game and looked like a mini Jordy Mercer in the field. As of right now, I have Owings on the opening day roster over the likes of Ji-Hwan Bae and Tucipita Marcano.