Quinn Priester strikes out 5 in best start of spring as Pirates beat Yankees
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Quinn Priester made his case for a spot in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting rotation, delivering his best performance of spring training.
Priester struck out five of the first nine batters he faced and held the New York Yankees to one run on three hits without a walk in 42⁄3 innings in a 6-2 win Friday night in a Grapefruit League game at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
Priester kept the Yankees scoreless through the first three innings by mixing his breaking and off-speed pitches to throw 38 of his 58 pitches for strikes. He now has 10 strikeouts and only one walk through 121⁄3 innings over four outings this spring.
In the first, he got Juan Soto swinging at a full-count slider before Gleyber Torres doubled to center and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Priester escaped by getting Anthony Rizzo swinging at an 0-2 slider.
Priester got Trent Grisham looking at a 2-2 slider in the second and Jose Trevino at a 1-2 curve in the third, then ended the inning with Alex Verdugo chasing a 2-2 changeup in the dirt.
But Torres hammered a first-pitch slider at the bottom of the zone 390 feet for a homer to center field to tie the score 1-1 in the fourth.
Pirates righty Luis Ortiz allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out four in four innings of relief to earn the win.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the first when third baseman Jack Brannigan, a top-10 prospect who was reassigned to the minor-league camp Tuesday, hit Clarke Schmidt’s sinker 369 feet to left-center for a home run.
Brannigan, who was 1 for 17 coming into the game, also had an RBI single in the seventh inning to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. After Nick Gonzales drew a two-out walk, Jack Suwinski drilled an Anthony Misiewicz cutter 368 feet to right-center for his third homer, a three-run shot that stretched the lead to 5-1.
Hudson Head doubled to drive in Mike Jarvis in the ninth for a 6-1 lead before Jorbit Vivas scored when Everson Pereira grounded into a forceout in the bottom of the ninth.
Notes: The Pirates will have split-squad games Saturday, with right-hander Mitch Keller expected to start against Detroit Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal at 4:05 p.m. at LECOM Park and righty Jared Jones scheduled to face Charlie Morton and the Atlanta Braves at 6:05 p.m. in North Port.