Tillman Strong In Orioles' 6-4 Win Over Pirates
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) -- Chris Tillman allowed one run in four innings and Adam Jones hit his first home run of the spring in the Baltimore Orioles' 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
Tillman, who was last season's opening day starter and is likely to get the call to start at Tampa Bay on April 6, struck out five and didn't walk a batter in his second spring start.
In his first, Tillman allowed one hit in two scoreless innings on March 9 against Philadelphia, and he also worked three innings last weekend against the Puerto Rico Development Program.
Jones and Ryan Flaherty hit home runs in the fifth inning for the Orioles.
Henry Urrutia hit a leadoff home run in the eighth to give Baltimore a 5-4 lead.
Radhames Liz started for Pittsburgh and allowed one run in two innings.
TRAINER'S ROOM:
Pirates: C Chris Stewart (hamstring) will likely start the season on the 15-day disabled list. Tony Sanchez is expected to be Pittsburgh's backup catcher; OF Andrew McCutchen continues to miss time with what the Pirates are calling "lower-body soreness;" OF Jose Tabata is out after fouling a ball off his right ankle.
Orioles: An X-Ray of Matt Wieters surgically repaired elbow was negative. Wieters reported it was sore on Wednesday a day after his first game since his Tommy John surgery last June. He won't catch until at least next week. "I feel confident we'll get it going again before long," manager Buck Showalter said. OF David Lough (hamstring) is being rested and OF Alejandro De Aza was given two days off for personal reasons.
STARTING TIME:
Pirates: Liz, who last pitched in the majors for Baltimore in 2009, is competing for a spot in the Pittsburgh bullpen. "I don't need to throw 100 mph to get guys out," Liz said. "I think different than how I used to think. When I was pitching before, I was just kind of throwing the ball. I was a little bit nervous. Now, I know what I want to do and I'm mentally stronger."
Orioles: Tillman has one goal left this spring. "Keep building the pitch count up a little bit. Got to get up there to close to a hundred here by the end," Tillman said. "We're getting there."
CUT:
Pittsburgh RHP Jameson Taillon, who underwent Tommy John surgery last April was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. He is expected to begin the season in extended spring training; optioned RHP Casey Sadler and INF Alen Hanson to Indianapolis. OF Willy Garcia was optioned to Double-A Altoona while LHP Jeremy Bleich and RHP Collin Balester, INF Gift Ngoepe and OF Mel Rojas Jr. were reassigned to minor league camp.
UP NEXT:
Pirates: Pittsburgh is playing split-squad games. RHP Vance Worley will pitch against Philadelphia RHP Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez at home while RHP Gerrit Cole goes against Minnesota RHP Kyle Gibson at Fort Myers, Florida.
Orioles: LHP Brian Matusz pitches against Boston RHP Justin Masterson at Fort Myers. LHP Wei-Yin Chen and RHP Kevin Gausman will pitch in minor league games.
(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
