Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington has found that spring training can have bookends to the conversations he has at its start and before making Opening Day roster decisions.
Cherington didn’t know Jake Lamb personally before this spring, but the 33-year-old corner infielder/outfielder made quite the impression on the Pirates, even if he didn’t make the final cut.
Lamb went 2 for 2 and delivered a two-run single in the fifth inning to push the Pirates past the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3, on Monday afternoon in the Grapefruit League finale at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.
The Pirates, who finished 13-16 in the Grapefruit League, will play their season opener Thursday at the Miami Marlins.
A former All-Star third baseman who had 30 home runs and 105 RBIs with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017, Lamb batted .300/.333/.450 with three doubles and seven RBIs in 19 games this spring. Lamb was reassigned to minor league camp Monday but is expected to start the season at Triple-A Indianapolis.
“He had a reputation as a really good pro, a good teammate, somebody who loves the game,” Cherington said. “He’s been a very productive major league hitter, obviously. That’s exactly what (he did) this spring. He’s just a breath of fresh air to be around. This is a guy who has accomplished quite a bit at the major league level and yet just shows up and loves to play, loves to be in the lineup. He’s competitive and wants to make the team but he understood it. He’s ready to go to Indy and be a good player there, be a great teammate and have a chance to help us at some point in the season.”
After getting three groundouts in the first inning, Pirates lefty Marco Gonzales gave up a triple to Kevin Kiermaier, who scored on a double to left by Cavan Biggio for a 1-0 Blue Jays lead. It was the only run allowed by Gonzales, who gave up three hits and had two strikeouts in throwing 25 of his 33 pitches for strikes in three innings.
Blue Jays righty Kevin Gausman recorded seven strikeouts without a walk over three innings but was tagged for a run when Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a leadoff single in the fourth, advanced on a Jack Suwinski single and scored on a double by Henry Davis to tie the score. Rowdy Tellez added an RBI single off Tim Mayza to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.
Damian Palmegiana tied it when he sent Ryan Borucki’s 1-0 sinnker 428 feet to center for a home run in the top of the fifth, but the Pirates scored two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Jared Triolo reached on an error, advanced to second on an Alika Williams infield single, and, after Jason Delay was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Lamb followed with a single to right to score Triolo and Williams for a 4-2 Pirates lead.
Toronto cut its deficit in half in the eighth against Luis Ortiz. Palmegiani singled to right, advanced to second on a wild pitch and went to third on a Leo Jimenez groundout before scoring on a single to right by Daniel Vogelbach to make it 4-3.
