Pirates Drop Yankees 6-2 in Balanced Performance

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Yankees 6-2 on Friday, powered to victory with strong performances from their young pitchers—and the now-customary barrage of homers that has defined their spring training campaign.

Pirates infielder Jack Brannigan  enjoyed his best game of the spring, going 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI single.

2019 first round pick Quinn Priester got the ball to start and went 4.2 innings, striking out five batters and allowing one run, a homer from Gleybar Torres that tied the game 1-1.

Kyle Nicolas made a brief appearance, working a three pitch groundout to finish the fifth inning, then Luis Ortiz took it the rest of the way, working through traffic—four hits and two walks allowed—in four innings of one-run ball.

Jack Suwinski clubbed a three-run homer in the seventh inning that gave the Pirates all the breathing room they needed, before each team managed a run in the ninth.

While a win is undoubtably nice, the Pirates’ biggest news of the day occurred off the field, with General Manager Ben Cherington inking a pair of players to one-year deals at positions of need. Pittsburgh signed outfielder and defensive stalwart Michael A. Taylor just before their game with the Yankees began, then news broke in the late innings that they were bringing right-handed pitcher Domingo Germán into the fold on a minor league deal as well.

Up Next

Tomorrow marks a split-squad day for the Pirates, with Mitch Keller taking on the Detroit Tigers at home at 4:05 p.m. before the rest of the team—most notably, right-handed starter Jared Jones—head to North Port to face the Atlanta Braves at 6:05 p.m.