From Mirror, wire reports

BRADENTON, Fla. – Today’s Pittsburgh Pirates “Spring Breakout Game” with the Philadelphia Phillies will be broadcasted live on the Altoona Curve Radio Network at 1:05 p.m. from Clearwater, Florida.

The game will air locally on HANK-FM 96.1.

MLB’s annual prospect Showcase, the Spring Breakout game, will pit top Pirates minor league prospects against top Phillies prospects at Baycare Ballpark, home of the Phillies. Altoona Curve broadcaster Preston Shoemaker will call the second annual game.

Shoemaker returns to the broadcast booth for a fifth season, serving as the team’s Assistant Director of Communications and Broadcasting. The Hollidaysburg native joined the broadcast booth in 2021.

Three players ranked in MLB.com’s Top 100: Bubba Chandler (15), Konnor Griffin (43), and Termarr Johnson (82) have been named to the Pirates roster for the game. There are eight Altoona Curve alums who will participate in the game: Chandler, Johnson, Hunter Barco, Nick Dombkowski, Anthony Solometo, Jaden Woods, Tsung-Che Cheng and Sammy Siani.

Bad day for Bucs

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen gave up 14 runs over a two-inning span Thursday in a 15-3 loss to Minnesota in Grapefruit League.

Pirates starter Jared Jones worked into the fifth inning before getting pulled for Jack Carey, who gave up four earned runs on five hits in just two-thirds of an inning. David Bednar also struggled, going just one-third of an inning and giving up five earned runs on three hits and two walks. Joey Wentz closed it out with two thirds of an inning with four earned runs on three hits and a walk.

Jones gave up three hits in his outing with four strikeouts and two walks. The one run was earned.

All of the Pirates (10-9) offense came in the ninth inning when Darick Hall smacked a two-run homer to go with a solo shot from Matt Gorski, who hit his fourth homer this spring.

Andrew Heaney is expected to start today for the Pirates against the Tigers. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. The game will air on SportsNet Pittsburgh and MLB Network.

No Rays in Tampa?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays withdrew Thursday from a $1.3 billion project to construct a new ballpark adjacent to Tropicana Field, citing a hurricane and delays that likely drove up the proposal’s cost.

The team issued a statement from principal owner Stuart Sternberg saying “a series of events” in October, which included severe damage to the the Trop and financing delays, led to what he called “this difficult decision.”

“After careful deliberation, we have concluded we cannot move forward with the new ballpark and development project at this moment,” Sternberg said.

Displaced from the Trop in St. Petersburg, the Rays are set to play their home games this season across Tampa Bay at the New York Yankees’ spring training home, 11,000-seat Steinbrenner Field. Meanwhile, repairs are envisioned to the Trop, including replacing its roof shredded by Hurricane Milton, that would have it ready for the 2026 season.

The Trop opened in 1990 and has been the Rays’ home since they took the field in 1998. St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, a driving force behind what was dubbed the “Here To Stay” initiative aimed at keeping the Rays in the city for another 30 years, said the decision was disappointing but “it is not unexpected.” It is also possible the Rays could be sold, he noted.

Hard to see stars

TOKYO — Hundreds of fans at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport lined up 10 deep and hoping to catch a glimpse of Shohei Ohtani as he arrived. But they saw nothing of the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar.

What they saw was a 40-meter-long temporary white wall to shield the players in case they came through the arrival area. The Chicago Cubs exited the same way when they arrived late Wednesday night.

The Dodgers were seen on the tarmac disembarking from their charter from Phoenix and Ohtani was one of the first off.

But the players didn’t make it to the arrival area, apparently taking an escape route instead.

The two teams open the season next week in Japan.