Mar 25, 2017 2 min read

Tigers right-hander Anibal Sanchez tossed six hitless innings to continue an impressive stretch on the mound, but top Pirates prospect Tyler Glasnow struck out nine in four innings and Adam Frazier and Austin Meadows went deep to give Pittsburgh a 5-4 win over Detroit Saturday at LECOM Park.

Sanchez, who had thrown eight straight scoreless innings before Saturday’s start, kept the Pirates off-balance throughout his longest start of the spring. He walked only one batter and struck out six.

Right fielder Tyler Collins put the Tigers on the board in the third inning, blasting a three-run homer to left-center field. Collins jumped on the first pitch he saw in his second at-bat, launching it off an advertisement hanging from the boardwalk beyond the outfield wall.

Glasnow, competing for the final spot in Pittsburgh’s rotation, put his swing-and-miss stuff on display for four innings. The right-hander struck out nine and only walked one. He allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits. All three runs scored on Collins’ home run, which came after a Phil Gosselin error at third base and Andrew Romine’s hard single to center.

“You can come into Spring Training and tell yourself, ‘Let’s go out and compete.’ But early on, it’s kind of tough,” Glasnow said. “The last two starts is the best I’ve felt. I’ve really been into the game and really competitive. I know it’s only up from here.”

The Pirates broke up the no-hitter and quickly tied the game in the seventh inning. After Andrew McCutchen – back in the lineup after returning from the World Baseball Classic – reached on an error, José Osuna singled off Tigers reliever Mark Lowe for Pittsburgh’s first hit. Osuna and pinch-runner Danny Ortiz came around to score on Francisco Cervelli’s triple to center field. Gosselin tied it up, 3-3, with a sacrifice fly to right field.

The Tigers pulled ahead in the eighth, but Frazier and Meadows sent solo blasts to right-center to give the Bucs a one-run lead.