Twins And Pirates Lack Offense, Tie In 9

By Ted Schwerzler |

The Minnesota Twins traveled to Bradenton, Florida today to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. After splitting their first four contests of the Spring Training schedule, the Twins got an entirely different result today. Both Pittsburgh and Minnesota struggled to do anything at the plate, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

More from Minnesota Twins News

With Aaron Thompson coming on in the 9th for the Twins, Pedro Florimon represented the lone baserunner and chance for the Pirates to go ahead. After being stranded at first, both teams decided to bypass extra innings.

Highlighting the game for the Twins were some familiar and fresh faces alike. Ricky Nolasco got the start and went two full innings. Looking sharp for the most part, back to back doubles by Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker gave the Pirates the first run of the game. The lead wouldn’t last long however as top power prospect Miguel Sano launched a towering home run to bring the score even at one.

Alex Meyer followed Nolasco in relief and showed us much of what the Twins have said about him. Hurling fastballs in the high 90’s he struggled somewhat with command, throwing one wild pitch, hitting a batter, and walking two. Meyer did end up getting a strikeout and gave up only one hit however. Adrian Salcedo came on to end a Pirates threat in the fourth inning.

Between both teams, only nine hits were tallied, four of which were recorded by the Twins. It’s hard to read too much into the lack of offensive output at this point in Spring Training. Pitchers are generally ahead of hitters when it comes to game situations, and the offense should be expected to come around.

Josmil Pinto didn’t play today for the Twins, but is expected to get in games at some point this week after dealing with a quad injury.

The Twins are back in action tomorrow afternoon in Dunedin taking on the Toronto Blue Jays.

Next: Twins Cap Off Solid First Week In Florida

More from Puckett's Pond

Home / Minnesota Twins News