Jung Ho Kang and Erik Gonzalez have
won starting jobs in the infield with the Pittsburgh
Pirates.
General Manager Neal Huntington said Monday that Kang has
beaten out Colin Moran at
third base and Erik Gonzalez has won the shortstop competition over Kevin Newman.
Kang is just 5 for 28 (.185) with 13 strikeouts this spring
but all five hits have been solo home runs. Moran was 6 for 28 (.214) with a
double and a homer through the weekend.
Moran, however, had committed four errors while Kang had
two.
Kang missed the entire 2017 season and the beginning of 2018
because he was unable to secure a work visa to travel from his native South
Korea following a third DUI arrest. He then underwent wrist surgery last year
before returning to the Pirates for the final three games of the season.
The Pirates beat the Rays 4-2 on Monday behind a strong
start from Nick Kingham,
who made his final bid for the fifth starter job. Kingham retired his first 11
batters, struck out five and allowed two hits over five scoreless innings.
Charlie
Morton allowed two runs over five innings for Tampa Bay against
his former team.
MORE FROM AROUND SPRING TRAINING
YANKEES 7, BRAVES 4
Looking to bolster their ailing rotation, the Yankees signed
left-hander Gio Gonzalez to
a minor league contract. The two-time All-Star was 10-11 with a 4.21 ERA last
season for Washington and Milwaukee, which acquired him on Aug. 31.
Luke Voit,
trying to beat out Greg Bird for
New York' first base job, hit his fourth homer of the spring. Aaron Judge hit
a two-run triple. Judge has four doubles, a triple, six homers and 14 RBI.
In his next-to-last tune-up for opening day, Masahiro
Tanaka allowed one run and two hits in five innings, giving up
a homer to Nick Markakis.
RANGERS 3, DODGERS 1
Ross Stripling will
begin the season in the starting rotation for Los Angeles, with ace Clayton
Kershaw unlikely to be on the active roster.
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts announced Kershaw won't start
on opening day because of the left shoulder inflammation that's slowed him at
spring training, ending his streak of pitching eight straight openers. Kershaw
is scheduled to throw live batting practice Wednesday, but there are no plans
in place after that.
Increasingly, it appears left-hander Rich Hill will
get the ball against the Arizona
Diamondbacks on opening day.
Rougned Odor had
three hits and Shin-Soo Choo added
two for Texas. Mike Minor tossed
3 1/3 shutout innings.
Brad Miller homered
for Los Angeles, and Stripling gave up two runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings.
MARINERS 6, YOMIURI GIANTS 5
Mitch Haniger hit
a tying, two-run homer in the seventh inning and David Freitas homered
in the eighth to give the Mariners their second straight exhibition win over
the Giants in Tokyo. Dee Gordon and Omar Narvaez each
had two hits. Felix
Hernandez allowed five runs in four innings in his final
regular-season tune-up.
BLUE JAYS 3, TIGERS (SS) 2
Teoscar
Hernandez homered in the first inning and Clayton
Richard pitched six solid innings for Toronto. Richard allowed
two runs and three hits while striking out six. Dalton Pompey added
three hits.
Daniel Norris allowed
three runs in three innings for Detroit. Gordon
Beckham had a solo homer in the first.
MARLINS 7, NATIONALS (SS) 1
Caleb Smith struck
out seven in five innings of one-run ball for Miami. Peter O'Brien had
two hits and five RBI, and Austin Dean had
three hits.
Patrick
Corbin allowed five runs and nine hits in five innings,
striking out five. Ryan
Zimmerman singled and scored for Washington, which had just three
hits.
ORIOLES 14, TIGERS (SS) 1
Dwight Smith
Jr. homered and had three hits to lift Baltimore. Trey Mancini and Jonathan
Villar each tripled, and Chance Sisco had
two hits. Andrew
Cashner opened with five innings of one-run ball.
Nick Castellanos hit a first-inning home run for the Tigers,
who were held to just three hits. Jordan
Zimmermann pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs and five
hits.
TWINS 4, RED SOX 1
Eddie Rosario hit
a two-run home run for the Twins. Jose Berrios pitched
4 2/3 innings and limited the defending World Series champions to a run, three
hits, and three walks while striking out four.
Nathan
Eovaldi pitched four innings of two-run ball for Boston. J.D. Martinez was
2 for 2.
CARDINALS 4, PHILLIES 1
Dakota Hudson firmed
up his bid for a rotation spot by striking out eight over five scoreless
innings. The 2016 first-round pick allowed four hits and walked one, dropping
his spring ERA to 1.72. Paul
Goldschmidt hit his first homer with St. Louis, and Tyler O'Neill went
deep for the fifth time.
With Bryce Harper getting
a day off, Philadelphia had just six hits.
NATIONALS (SS) 6, METS 5
Spencer
Kieboom homered and had two hits and three RBI for the
Nationals, and his brother, Carter Kieboom, also had two hits. Joe Ross allowed
two hits in three innings.
Jeurys
Familia struck out two during a perfect first inning, and Kyle
Dowdy followed with three scoreless innings. Michael
Conforto hit a two-run homer. Mets aces Jacob deGrom and Noah
Syndergaard squared off in an intra-squad game and combined to
strike out 24 batters. New York used them on the back fields instead of against
Washington to avoid giving the NL East rivals any extra looks.
GIANTS 5, WHITE SOX 2
Tyler Beede struck
out three in two innings, allowing two runs and four hits for San
Francisco. Steven Duggar had
two hits and Donovan
Solano drove in two.
Yonder Alonso hit
his fourth home run of the spring and Adam Engel had
two hits for the White Sox. Manny
Banuelos allowed two runs and three hits over 4 1/3 innings.
PADRES 3, INDIANS 1
San Diego pulled rookie and possible opening day starter
Chris Paddack was scratched hours before the game and will instead pitch in a
minor league game Tuesday. Robbie Erlin pitched
instead and delivered two scoreless innings. Wil Myers hit
his first homer of the spring and Josh Naylor hit his second.
Trevor Bauer struck
out nine over 5 2/3 innings but also allowed three runs and four hits,
including two home runs. Eric Stamets had two of Cleveland's three hits.
ROCKIES 5, REDS 2
Trevor Story homered
and Ryan McMahon had
a homer and a double. Kyle Freeland allowed
two runs and seven hits over 4 2/3 innings.
Tyler Mahle allowed
four runs in four innings for the Reds. He's expected to take the
season-opening roster spot left open by Alex Wood,
sidelined with a back ailment. Scott
Schebler homered and had two hits to lift his average to .429.
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