Chris Archer had another strong start for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, allowing only a pair of singles while striking out four batters with no walks in three innings against the New York Yankees. The Yankees won 6-5 in Grapefriut League action.
Archer struck out Greg Bird with two runners on in the first, then got Troy Tulowitzki swinging and Clint Frazier looking to end the second and Brett Gardner swinging in the third.
It was the second time this spring Archer had four strikeouts, and he has pitched five scoreless innings this spring.
Jung Ho Kang and Francisco Cervelli hit back-to-back home runs off J.A. Happ in the third inning. It was Kang’s fourth homer this spring, the first for Cervelli.
Happ allowed three runs on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks in four innings. Bralin Jackson, who started in right field in place of Bryan Reynolds (hamstring), drove in Erik Gonzalez on a sacrifice fly to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the second, and the back-to-back homers made it 3-0.
The Yankees tied the score in the fourth inning, when Francisco Liriano loaded the bases and walked Gleyber Torres to make it 3-1, and Geoff Hartlieb allowed two runs in relief. The Yankees took a 4-3 lead when Hartlieb surrendered a leadoff homer to Gio Urshela in the fifth inning.
The Pirates tied it in the seventh on Kevin Kramer’s RBI single and took a 5-4 lead on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ sacrifice fly to score Kramer. The Yankees got a two-run homer by Zach Zehner off Jesus Liranzo in the bottom of the eighth to make it 6-5.
Nick Kingham is scheduled to start against right-hander Kyle Wright when the Pirates play the Atlanta Braves at 1:05 p.m. Monday in Kissimmee. Steven Brault and Dovydas Neverauskas also are expected to pitch for the Pirates.
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