Bradenton, Fla. — MLB knew they needed to act quickly to settle the labor lockout. A regular season starting late would have been a disaster a far as the fans were concern. With the national economic concerns, I am not sure how far fans could be pushed. Today’s action featured 14 games and the Pirates hosting the Tigers in sunny Bradenton, Florida was one of them.

The Pittsburgh Pirates opened another spring season in Bradenton yesterday hosting the NY Yankees and today Rocket Sports & Entertianment’s Eddie Michels is back on the beat as Eddie were on the spot for the Bucs 6-3 W over the Detroit Tigers.

The Pirates won 6-3 and clubbed four home runs! Overall, the pitching for both teams was good as the Pirates only allowed seven hits and Detroit only allowed six, unfortunately four were the homers. Four of six Pirates hits were homers, good for the fans.

EDDIE MICHELS COMMENT AFTER THE GAME THIS AFTERNOON:

“Starting my 32nd year covering major league baseball on Saturday one thing hasn’t changed and that is one sees the fans from up north coming down to Florida with skin as white as a sheet then leaving about a week later with that reddish glow on the skin.  But this year I saw something that appears to be getting better, especially for the baseball fans in Pittsburgh, Pa.  After what I saw Saturday at LEMCO Field in Bradenton, Florida. I can only say if it doesn’t happen this year, it will next.  Watch them fans it looks like the Pirates from Pittsburgh are back on the road to success.  Watch them.”

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
DET 0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	3	6	0
PITT 0	0	2	1	0	0	1	2	–	6	7	0

WINM. Burrows(1-0)2.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 K, 0 BB

LOSSG. Hill(0-1)1.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 K, 0 BB

SAVEM. Eckelman(1)1.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 K, 0 BB

Tigers Hitting

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG
R. GrossmanDH	3	1	1	1	0	0	.333	.333	1.333
a – K. ClemensPH-DH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	1.250
R. GreeneRF	2	0	1	0	1	0	.667	.800	1.667
E. De La RosaRF	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
J. BaezSS	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
Z. ShortSS	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.250	.000
J. Schoop2B	2	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000
J. Lopez2B	2	1	1	0	0	1	.500	.500	.500
S. Torkelson1B	2	0	0	0	0	1	.250	.400	.500
J. Lester1B	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.250	.000
I. Paredes3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
R. Kreidler3B	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000
D. CameronLF	3	1	3	2	0	0	.600	.667	1.200
K. CarpenterLF	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
D. GarneauC	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
R. LavarnwayC	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
D. HillCF	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
J. RobsonCF	1	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000
TEAM	33	3	6	3	1	5

a-grounded to first for Grossman in the 7th

• BATTING
• HR: Grossman (1, 5th inning off H. Stratton 0 on, 2 Out); Cameron (1, 5th inning off H. Stratton 0 on, 0 Out)
• RBI: Grossman (1), Cameron 2 (2)
• 2Out RBI: Grossman, Cameron
• Team RISP: 1-4 (Lavarnway 0-1, Báez 0-1, Cameron 1-1, Paredes 0-1)
• Team LOB: 5

Tigers Pitching

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	ERA
C. Mize	2.0	1	0	0	1	3	0	0.00
A. Lange	1.0	2	2	2	0	1	1	18.00
J. Foley	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	1	9.00
B. Brieske	2.0	0	0	0	1	4	0	0.00
G. Hill (L, 0-1)	1.0	2	1	1	0	2	1	9.00
L. Shore	0.2	1	2	2	2	0	1	27.00
N. Kuzia	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
TEAM	8.0	7	6	6	4	11	4

• PITCHING
• WP: G. Hill

Pirates Hitting

HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG
K. Hayes3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000
J. Triolo3B	2	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000
B. ReynoldsCF	2	1	2	0	0	0	1.000	1.000	1.000
M. FraizerCF	2	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.500	.000
B. GamelRF	2	1	1	2	0	0	.500	.500	2.000
J. SuwinskiRF	1	1	0	0	1	1	.000	.500	.000
Y. Tsutsugo1B	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
E. Rodriguez1B	1	1	1	2	1	0	.250	.400	1.000
D. VogelbachDH	1	0	0	0	1	0	.000	.500	.000
a – H. DavisPH-DH	2	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
A. AlfordLF	2	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000
C. Smith-NjigbaLF	1	0	0	0	1	1	.000	.500	.000
O. CruzSS	2	1	1	1	0	0	.500	.500	2.000
T. MarcanoSS	2	1	1	1	0	0	.500	.500	2.000
R. Castro2B	2	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000
N. Gonzales2B	2	0	0	0	0	1	.333	.333	.333
M. PerezC	2	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000
J. RitchieC	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.000	1.000	1.000
TEAM	31	6	7	6	4	11

a-flied out to left for Vogelbach in the 6th

• BATTING
• HR: Gamel (1, 3rd inning off Lange 1 on, 2 Out); Cruz (1, 4th inning off Foley 0 on, 2 Out); Marcano (1, 7th inning off G. Hill 0 on, 0 Out); Rodriguez (1, 8th inning off Shore 1 on, 0 Out)
• RBI: Gamel 2 (2), Cruz (1), Marcano (1), Rodriguez 2 (2)
• 2Out RBI: Gamel (2), Cruz
• Team RISP: 0-3 (Marcano 0-1, Fraizer 0-1, Gonzales 0-1)
• Team LOB: 5

• BASERUNNING
• SB: Smith (1, 2nd base off Shore/Lavarnway)

Pirates Pitching

PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	ERA
M. Keller	1.2	2	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
C. Vieaux	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
D. Bednar	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.00
D. Underwood Jr. (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
H. Stratton (H, 1)	1.0	2	2	2	0	0	2	18.00
C. Mlodzinski (B, 1)	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	0	9.00
M. Burrows (W, 1-0)	2.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.00
M. Eckelman (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
TEAM	9.0	6	3	3	1	5	2

Scoring Summary

INNING	DET	PIT
		3rd	Gamel homered to center (401 feet), Reynolds scored.	0	2
		4th	Cruz homered to right.	0	3
		5th	Cameron homered to center (408 feet).	1	3
		5th	Grossman homered to left center (381 feet).	2	3
		6th	Cameron singled to left, Lopez scored, Torkelson to second.	3	3
		7th	Marcano homered to left (368 feet).	3	4
		8th	Rodriguez homered to right center (413 feet), Suwinski scored.	3	6