Pirates nearing return trip up north
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From Mirror, wire reports
The Pittsburgh Pirates went 1-1 in their final spring training weekend of Grapefruit League action, beating the Boston Red Sox (4-1) and losing to the New York Yankees (1-0).
In the loss to the Yankees, Pirates starter Martin Perez worked three shutout innings and finished the spring with an ERA of 0.60 in 15 innings of work. He allowed no runs in his last 12 innings of work.
The only run was given up by David Bednar working the fourth in relief.
Jared Triolo, who will be the Pirates second baseman to start the season, went 1-for-3 and is hitting .333 for the spring. Andrew McCutchen reached base twice in his three at bats.
In Saturday's win over Boston, the Pirates got a three-run homer from Edward Olivares in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game. Ke'Bryan Hayes and Billy McKinney each extended spring hitting streaks.
Pittsburgh starter Jared Jones continued his solid spring, working five innings and the only run scored was on a Pirate error. Josh Fleming tossed a scoreless inning and Cameron Junker notched his second save of the spring.
The Pirates (12-16-1) will host Toronto today at 1:05 p.m. in their final spring game. Marco Gonzales will start for the Pirates. The game will air on SportsNet Pittsburgh.
The chase has ended
Pitcher Chase Anderson, who was trying to make the Pirates roster, was granted a release when it was determined he wasn't going north with the team to start the season. That move on Sunday left the Pirates with 40 players in camp.
Anderson, 36, was 1-6 with a 5.75 ERA last year in 17 starts and two relief appearances for Tampa Bay and Colorado.
He signed with the Pirates on Feb. 17 and had a 2.45 ERA in four spring training outings along with nine strikeouts and three walks while holding batters to a .135 batting average (5 for 37).
Anderson is 59-56 with a 4.35 ERA and one save in 10 seasons over 200 starts and 18 relief appearances in 10 seasons in the big leagues.
He has played for Arizona (2014-15), Milwaukee (2016-19), Toronto (2020), Philadelphia (2021), Cincinnati (2022), the Rays and Rockies.