Seven Pirates pitchers combine to shut out Twins
BRADENTON, Fla. – Seven Pittsburgh pitchers combined on a three-hitter Tuesday, Adam Frazier hit a solo home run and the Pirates shut out the Minnesota Twins, 1-0.
Pittsburgh starter Chase De Jong allowed one hit over 3 2/3 innings and lowered his spring training ERA to 0.77. De Jong retired the first nine batters he faced.
Roansy Contreras struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning for a save.
Frazier, the only player in the game with more than one hit, led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a home run off Josh Winder that just cleared the wall in right field. Frazier went 2-for-3 to boost his batting average to .586.
Minnesota threatened in the sixth when Andrew Romine tripled off reliever Michael Feliz but Luis Arraez lined into a double play.
The Pirates (11-10-1) sent pitcher James Marvel to minor-league camp. Pittsburgh still has 47 players in camp including 25 pitchers.
The Twins optioned prized prospect Alex Kirilloff to their alternate training site, leaving a wide-open competition for playing time in left field while giving the 2016 first-round draft pick more time to develop.
Jake Cave, Kyle Garlick and Brent Rooker are the primary candidates at that position, vacated when Eddie Rosario was not tendered a contract during the offseason. Luis Arraez, a natural infielder who has moved into a super-sub role this year, has also been in the mix in left field.
Kirilloff, a former standout at Plum High School near Pittsburgh, made his major league debut in last year’s postseason but has yet to appear in a regular-season game. Excluding him from the major league roster to start the year will allow the Twins to keep his service time clock from running and potentially delay his eligibility for free agency by a year. This issue has become increasingly tense between clubs and players following the union’s loss of a grievance against the Chicago Cubs for holding back third baseman Kris Bryant as a rookie in 2015.
Kirilloff has four hits in 31 at-bats with one home run and eight strikeouts in spring training games, which didn’t help his cause to make the team out of camp. The COVID-19 pandemic that eliminated minor league competition last year didn’t help, either.