Mar 15, 2018 1 min read

The New York Yankees didn’t make it easy on Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove. In his first official inning of the spring, Musgrove took the mound on Thursday at Steinbrenner Field and had to face the slugging trio of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez.

But Musgrove held his own, striking out five over 2 2/3 innings in his Grapefruit League debut to start the Pirates’ 9-5 loss to the Yankees. Musgrove threw 54 pitches, 33 for strikes, and allowed two runs on one hit and three walks. One run scored after Musgrove hit his pitch count and left the game.

Brett Gardner drew a leadoff walk and scored when Judge smashed a breaking ball off the center-field wall. Musgrove then struck out five of the next six hitters. Stanton swung through a changeup, not usually Musgrove’s put-away pitch, to end the first. Musgrove froze Drury with a 94-mph inside fastball to end the second.