Baltimore Orioles defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7 – MLB Update
The Baltimore Orioles put in a tremendous performance as they managed to defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7 in their Grapefruit League outing on Thursday, March 24 at Ed Smith Stadium in Florida.
Pirates’ Lyle Overbay provided a splendid start hammering a grand slam to left-field off starter Jake Arrieta that also helped Andrew McCutchen to score. Neil Walker seemed inspired with Lyle as he hammered the Pirates’ second homer to Arrieta in the same
inning.
The Pirates’ starter Rose Ohlendorf, making his fifth start of spring, botched to save a three run lead achieved by the batters. The 28-year-old right handed pitcher, having 0-3 with 10.24 ERA in four games, allowed two straight homers in the second inning.
Ohlendorf, who has been announced as the opening day starter, pitched just over four innings and allowed a costly six runs on nine blistering hits.
Ohlendorf also struck-out four but these succumbed under consumed home-runs that put the Pirates on the back foot. Pittsburgh’s manager Clint Hurdle seemed unhappy, as Ohlendorf has allowed 16 runs in last three starts. Hurdle regarded him an inconsistent
hurler with just a week left before regular season.
"We're going to find out when the regular season comes," Hurdle said. "It's not so much the quantity of his pitches, but the quality that has to improve. He is aware of that. Once the bell rings, we find out where we go from there."
Orioles’ starter Arrieta who gave two homers in the first innings then bounced back and allowed just one hit and struck-out four in four innings. Arrieta consumed four runs on five hits in just over five innings and picked up the win to improve to 3-0 during
spring training.
Talking with reporters after the game, the right-handed pitcher accepted the fact he was sloppy in first inning. However, he was optimistic with his pitches.
He said, "Absolutely. I made a lot of strides. From the second to the fifth inning, I feel like I was throwing like I was in midseason form. That's a good sign."
The Orioles moved their spring record to 12-12 and with this win they will be traveling to Florida to take on Minnesota Twins on Friday. It is the sixth and final meeting between the teams this spring.
Baltimore managed to restrict the Pirates’ offence from getting big hits against them. The Pirates will be disappointed that they were unable to be more competitive against the Orioles during spring training. Pittsburgh will be looking to improve their performance
before the regular season begins in a few days time. It will be interesting to see how long the Orioles will be able to carry their winning momentum into their next game and then into the all important regular season.
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