Nova sharp but Pirates lose to Boston Red Sox
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Tzu-Wei Lin hit an infield single that scored Sam Travis in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Boston Red Sox over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3, in a spring training game Thursday night.
The loss, however, didn’t ruin a strong outing from Pirates starter Ivan Nova, acquired in a trade deadline deal last season and re-signed in the offseason.
Nova, slated to be the Pirates’ No. 3 starter behind Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon, pitched five innings and allowed one run on four hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out five.
The Pirates, meanwhile, scored three runs against Boston’s big offseason acquisition Chris Sale, who was picked up in a trade with the White Sox.
Sale went four innings, allowing seven hits and all three Pittsburgh runs.
“I didn’t feel sharp,” said Sale. “I felt great, just not sharp. I wasn’t able to locate when I needed to.”
Jose Osuna continued his strong spring for the Pirates, going 2-3 with a run scored and his team-best 10th RBI. Gift Ngoepe, signed by the Pirates out of South Africa in 2008, had three hits.
Drew Hutchinson is slated to pitch for the Pirates today against Baltimore, with Felipe Rivero, Tyler Webb and Wade LeBlanc also scheduled to pitch. The Pirates also will play a “B” game against the Orioles with Trevor Williams, Casey Sadler and Angel Sanchez scheduled to throw in the six-inning game.