Today's game...

...has been officially called on account of rain.
Check back tomorrow when I blog from McKechnie Field when the Pirates host the Tampa Bay Rays for the first of three meetings this spring in Bradenton.
A.J. Burnett will start for the Pirates against the Rays' Jeremy Hellickson.

Lineups: Pirates vs. Orioles

Dark clouds are making their way over McKechnie Field, site of today's game between the Pirates and the resurrected Baltimore Orioles.
Rain is in the forecast. A tornado watch is in place.
Something tells me the party deck won't be hopping today.
But the Orioles' prized prospect, Dylan Bundy, is scheduled to make his spring debut today, so we have that going for us.

Lineups:

ORIOLES
Alexi Casilla, ss
Lew Ford, lf
Wilson Betemit, dh
Steve Pearce, 1b
Russ Canzler, rf
Danny Valencia, 3b
Jason Pridie, cf
Taylor Teagarden, c
Ryan Flaherty, 2b
Chris Tillman, p

PIRATES
Starling Marte, lf
Neil Walker, 2b
Andrew McCutchen, cf
Pedro Alvarez, 3b
Garrett Jones, 1b
Gaby Sanchez, dh
Brad Hawpe, rf
Michael McKenry, c
Clint Barmes, ss
Wandy Rodriguez, p

Pirates win

Clint Barmes hit a two-run home run, Brad Hawpe drove in a pair of runs and seven Pirates pitchers teamed for a seven-hitter as the Pittsburgh defeated the Atlanta Braves 9-2 in front of 5,626 fans at McKechnie Field.

It was the Pirates’ first home game of the Grapefruit League season, and the first official exhibition game at McKechnie since the ballpark underwent a $10 million overhaul.

Darren Ford had two hits and two RBIs and Clint Robinson singled, doubled and scored a pair of runs for the Pirates (2-0).

Pendleton School graduate Tyler Pastornicky knocked in a run for the Braves.

PROSPECT OF THE GAME: Braves starter Julio Teheran, ranked 31^st in MLB.com’s list of baseball’s top 100 prospects, pitched two hitless innings, striking out two and walking one.

UP NEXT: The Pirates head south to Fort Myers to take on the Minnesota Twins at 1:05 p.m. Monday. Kyle McPherson will start for Pittsburgh against the Twins’ Vance Worley

Pirates win

Clint Barmes hit a two-run home run, Brad Hawpe drove in a pair of runs and seven Pirates pitchers teamed for a seven-hitter as the Pittsburgh defeated the Atlanta Braves 9-2 in front of 5,626 fans at McKechnie Field.

It was the Pirates’ first home game of the Grapefruit League season, and the first official exhibition game at McKechnie since the ballpark underwent a $10 million overhaul.

Darren Ford had two hits and two RBIs and Clint Robinson singled, doubled and scored a pair of runs for the Pirates (2-0).

Pendleton School graduate Tyler Pastornicky knocked in a run for the Braves.

PROSPECT OF THE GAME: Braves starter Julio Teheran, ranked 31^st in MLB.com’s list of baseball’s top 100 prospects, pitched two hitless innings, striking out two and walking one.

UP NEXT: The Pirates head south to Fort Myers to take on the Minnesota Twins at 1:05 p.m. Monday. Kyle McPherson will start for Pittsburgh against the Twins’ Vance Worley

Russell Martin opts out of World Baseball Classic

photo by Tiffany Tompkins-Condie

Russell Martin is staying in Bradenton.

The Pirates' newly-acquired catcher has decided not to play for Team Canada for the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

"The Pirate organization wasn't comfortable with me playing shortstop, and I don't think Team Canada was comfortable with me playing shortstop," said Martin, who was born in Ontario and resides in Quebec, "and I didn't want to have put my body in a position where I was going to catch however many innings of baseball during the tournament."

Wait. Did he say shortstop?

Drafted as in infielder in 2002 by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Martin was all about going to the WBC as  long he didn't have to catch. And he wanted to play short.

So the 30-year-old figured if he was going to catch, why not catch the guys who he'll be working with for the next five months.

"I'm not catching every day here," Martin said prior to Sunday's game against the Atlanta Braves, "but staying here and catching their bullpens, catching them in a game every once in a while, it'll help accelerate the process of chemistry and just comfort."

Braves vs. Pirates: Lineups

Like that view?
It's from the new, oft-admired boardwalk in McKechnie Field. The ballpark, fresh off a massive renovation, hosts its first Grapefruit League game of the spring today when the Atlanta Braves visit the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Here are the lineups. One note: Tyler Pastornicky, a graduate of The Pendleton School, is on the Braves' travel roster.

BRAVES
Reed Johnson, cf
Jason Heyward, rf
Justin Upton, lf
Juan Francisco, 3b
B.J. Upton, dh
Blake DeWitt, 2b
Gerald Laird, c
Ernesto Mejia, 1b
Ramiro Pena, ss
Julio Teheran, p

PIRATES
Starling Marte, lf
Russell Martin, c
Andrew McCutchen, cf
Pedro Alvarez, 3b
Neil Walker, 2b
Gaby Sanchez, 1b
Brandon Inge, dh
Jose Tabata, rf
Clint Barmes, ss
James McDonald, p

Game over

By JOHN LEMBO

jlembo@bradenton.com

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.