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BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates bullpen surrendered four runs in the seventh and eighth innings combined in a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers in Grapefruit League action Wednesday.
Pirates starter Quinn Priester worked two shutout innings and needed just 19 pitches to get his six outs. Jared Jones worked 1ª scoreless innings in relief with two strikeouts for the Pirates.
Pittsburgh (1-4) scored three times in the third, two of which came on a two-run homer from Tsung-Che Cheng. Teammate Connor Joe added a solo home run.
Aroldis Chapman struck out three of the five batters he faced but also gave up a homer to former Pirate Bligh Madris. Termarr Johnson singled in his one plate appearance.
The Pirates are in Sarasota today to play Baltimore. Paul Skenes will start for Pittsburgh.
Star's debut
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out three batters over two scoreless innings in his exhibition debut on Wednesday, giving a glimpse into why the Los Angeles Dodgers believe the Japanese right-hander can become an ace in the big leagues.
Yamamoto struck out the first batter he faced, Texas Rangers All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien, on six pitches. He then gave up a single to Evan Carter before Wyatt Langford grounded into a double play.
In the second inning, he struck out Nathaniel Lowe on three pitches before Jonah Heim flied out to left. Yamamoto then struck out Leody Taveras on four pitches.
Less pitchers?
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Major League Baseball wants to put a greater emphasis on starting pitching. But it's a tricky situation in the era of openers and hard-throwing relievers.
Big league starters averaged 15.4 outs and 85.1 pitches last year, according to Sportradar, and 15.6 outs and 84.9 pitches in 2022. But the numbers were 17.4 and 93.1 as late as 2015, and 17.8 and 98.6 in 2000.
Commissioner Rob Manfred said in October that the league is considering lowering the maximum of 13 pitchers per team to 12 possibly as soon as the 2025 season.