• Who: Pirates (0-0) vs. Orioles (1-0)
• What: Grapefruit League exhibition
• When: 1:05 p.m.
• Where: Ed Smith Stadium
• Weather: 76°, sunny, 0% rain
• Pitchers: RHP Wilber Dotel vs. RHP Dean Kremer
• Radio: 100.1 FM/KDKA-AM 1020
• Satellite: SiriusXM 861
• Boxscore: MLB.com
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Pirates take their spring opener over the Orioles, 8-2. Homers from O’Hearn and Rodriguez. Dotel with two innings of one-run ball.
• Matt Ager gets the call to pitch the bottom of the ninth.
• Griffin strikes out swinging on a high inside 98-mph fastball.
• Smooth inning for Nielson to retire the Orioles in order. Griffin will leadoff the ninth.
• Cy Nielson is on the mound for the Pirates.
• First baseman Nick Cimillo, third baseman Duce Gourson, and center fielder Mitch Jebb are retired in order to strand Alfonzo.
• Catching prospect Omar Alfonzo doubles to left field.
• Seventh inning features more youth. Jhostynxon Garcia grounds out to shortstop and strike outs by Esmerlyn Valdez and Termarr Johnson. Justin Meis will pitch for the Pirates in the bottom half.
• Konnor Griffin makes his spring debut pinch-hitting for Cruz, strikes out swinging to strand Cook at second base.
• RUN: Jarod Bayless pitching for the Pirates allows a run via an errant pickoff attempt at first, scoring Taveras from third base. Pirates 8, Orioles 2
• HOME RUN: O’Hearn hits a three-run blast to left center field. Pirates 8, Orioles 1
• RUN: Cook scores on Rutschman throwing error over second base bag in an attempt to get Cruz, who advances to third on the play. Pirates 5, Orioles 1
• HOME RUN: Rodriguez has the first Pirates hit and homer of the spring. Two-run shot. Good thing to see. Pirates 4, Orioles 1
• Four solid innings between Dotel, Murdock and Darrell-Hicks. The latter just overcame allowing a leadoff double to retire the next three batters. Got Beavers on strikes with a mid-90s fastball.
• Noah Murdock is the new Pirates pitcher.
• Well, first challenge of spring training results in a strike to Cruz. Then, not only does he strike out swinging, but his bat sails into right field. Honestly got good distance on the bat toss.
• RUN: Alexander scores on a double play. Pirates 2, Orioles 1
• Man, Henderson and Alexander execute the hit-and-run to perfection. Wasn’t a bad pitch by Dotel, either. Fastball outside
• First hit of the day belongs to Alexander. Hard-hit single under the glove of a diving Yorke.
• Two runs on no hits, folks. We’re so back.
• RUN: Rodriguez hits on back to Kremer who had Triolo in no-man’s land between third and home. Let him off the hook. Threw it to second and couldn’t get double play at first. Run scores. Pirates 2, Orioles 0
• RUN: Pirates manufacture their first run of the spring in the most Pirates way possible. Three straight walks and a fielder’s choice by Yorke. Pirates 1, Orioles 0
• Really good at-bat by Bart to begin the second. Fouled off three tough pitches before getting on with a walk. Bart’s always been a guy who has battled. That’s part of why last year was so disappointing. Power just wasn’t there like it was for a good bit in 2024.
• Gonzales with a nice stab on a liner by Mountcastle. Plenty of doubts regarding his ability to play short, and for good reason. Really struggled defensively at second last year. Good play by him there, though.
• Dotel clearly working away from Ward before getting him looking on a slider down in the zone. Got the benefit of two favorable calls there. Dotel is really going to benefit from pitching against a lineup filled with good, young big leaguers.
• Really nice ovation for O’Hearn. Fans really appreciate what he brought to the team last year. Shared a hug with Rutschman, too. Ends up flying out to left-center to end the first.
• Cruz isn’t wasting any time at all. First-pitch fastball on the inner half and he pops out to short.
• First pitch: Pirates vs. Orioles, 1:07 p.m., Kremer to Cruz, 76 degrees, sunny
• Orioles’ starting lineup:
1. Taylor Ward, LF
2. Adley Rutschman, C
3. Ryan Mountcastle, 1B
4. Blaze Alexander, 2B
5. Gunnar Henderson, DH
6. Dylan Beavers, RF
7. Leody Taveras, CF
8. Weston Wilson, 3B
9. Luis Vazquez, SS
• Wilber Dotel, Noah Murdock and Michael Darrell-Hicks will cover the innings today in Sarasota.
• Pirates’ starting nine for today’s spring opener:
1. Oneil Cruz, CF
2. Nick Gonzales, SS
3. Ryan O’Hearn, RF
4. Joey Bart, DH
5. Jared Triolo, 3B
6. Enmanuel Valdez, 1B
7. Nick Yorke, 2B
8. Endy Rodriguez, C
9. Billy Cook, LF
• Just a heads up that observations on my end here in the live file will be somewhat limited here during spring training. Mainly when starters are in the game those first few innings before being pulled and made available in the clubhouse.