By
JOHN LEMBO
BRADENTON
– Shutout innings from Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon, and a long home run off
the bat of Starling Marte.
The
Pittsburgh Pirates hope such scenarios play out during future summers and falls
at PNC Park.
Friday,
they had to settle for watching three of their prized prospects perform well in
the Black And Gold Game, an intrasquad affair that lasted 5 ½ innings in front
of 2,131 fans at McKechnie Field.
In the
first game at McKechnie since the ballpark underwent a $10 million overhaul, Team
Gold and Team Black played to a 2-2 tie.
Marte,
who homered on the first pitch he saw as a Pirate last year, swatted at another
first pitch Friday and launched it over McKechnie’s new left-field bleachers to
give Team Gold a 2-0 lead in the third inning.
He
wound up hitting .257 with 17 RBIs and 12 steals in 47 games with Pittsburg.
A pair
of former first-round draft picks, Cole and Taillon started and threw two
shutout innings apiece.
Cole
allowed a hit and struck out one for Team Black, while Taillon struck out three
and surrendered two hit.
“It
felt good,” Taillon said. “Nothing out of the ordinary…still some things I want
to iron out, like timing. But overall, it felt real good.”
Neither
pitcher issued a walk.
“I
thought they were very, very good with their pace,” said Pirates manager Clint
Hurdle. “And obviously they both pitched very well (Friday).”
Lucas
May and Alex Presley each drove in a run for Team Black.
The
Pirates open Grapefruit League play Saturday when they head to Port Charlotte
to face the Tampa Bay Rays, and play their home-opener 1 p.m. Sunday against
the Atlanta Braves.
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