BRADENTON, FL – The Orioles scored seven times off the Pirates’ top two relievers on Thursday night on their way to claiming an 11-8 win under the lights at McKechnie Field.
The first four of those seven runs came against Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan, who entered with the Pirates leading, 4-1, in the fifth. After issuing a leadoff walk, Hanrahan preceded to give up five consecutive hits.
Brandon Snyder, who reached base three times on Thursday, started the string of hits with a double. Catcher Craig Tatum followed with a single before Ryan Adams blasted a two-run homer. Hits by J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones got Hanrahan into more trouble, though the right-hander was able to keep both from scoring by striking out the next three batters.
“I’ve been trying to work on throwing the ball in a little more,” Hanrahan said. “I threw some good ones, but I also threw a lot of bad ones. A couple of balls went back over the middle.”
Baltimore extended its lead by scoring three more runs — two of which were earned — off Evan Meek in the sixth. Hardy, Tatum, Snyder and Jones all finished with multihit games for the Orioles, who are now 6-5-2 this spring.
Pittsburgh had at one point raced out to an early lead, in large part with some aggressive baserunning. It began in the first, when Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata singled and came around to score on a ball that didn’t make it out of the infield.
Tabata made a gutsy decision to try to move from first to third on an infield grounder, and ended up going all the way home when the throw from Snyder got away from Tatum, who had moved to cover third.
Pittsburgh tacked on three more runs off Orioles starter Brad Bergesen in the second. Jason Jaramillo drove home a pair with a single to left. A two-out double by Matt Diaz then brought Jaramillo home.
Bergesen allowed another hit and a walk before being removed with two out in the third. Just as he had in his previous start, the right-hander allowed three earned runs on six hits.
While Bergesen labored, Pirates starter Paul Maholm had arguably his strongest outing yet this spring. Maholm was efficient, as he finished four innings. The lefty allowed three singles and a solo homer to Baltimore’s Vladimir Guerrero, who now has three this spring.
Orioles reliever Jeremy Accardo continued his stellar spring with another scoreless appearance. He struck out two in the fifth, and has now not allowed a run in five Grapefruit League innings. Josh Rupe pitched two scoreless innings in relief, as well.
Baltimore added three additional unearned runs in the seventh off Jeff Karstens. Tatum hit a two-out, ground-rule double to plate Joseph Mahoney, who reached on a fielding error by second baseman Pedro Ciriaco. Adams then followed with a single to score Nolan Reimold and Tatum.
The Pirates rallied for four in the bottom of eighth. After loading the bases against Raul Rivero, pinch-hitter Garrett Jones singled in Ciriaco. Corey Wimberly followed with a single to right that scored Josh Fields. Andy Marte then tagged up on Dusty Brown’s sac fly to cut the O’s lead to 11-7. After Mark Worrell replaced Rivero for Baltimore, John Bowker singled to right to score Jones and narrow the gap to 11-8.
Up next for the Pirates: The Pirates and Rays will meet for the fifth time, with Friday’s matchup a 1:05 p.m. ET game in Port Charlotte, Fla. James McDonald is scheduled to pitch the first four innings for Pittsburgh, while Wade Davis makes the start for Tampa Bay. Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez will return to the lineup for the Pirates, who have split the first four games against the Rays
Up next for the Orioles: The Orioles will return home to Ed Smith Stadium on Friday afternoon, where Jeremy Guthrie will be making his fourth start this spring. Guthrie, the O’s likely Opening Day starter, will be opposed by Phillies lefty Cliff Lee. The game is slated to start at 1:05 p.m. ET, with Jason Berken and Rick VandenHurk also scheduled to pitch.
Jenifer Langosch is a reporter for MLB.com.
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