Pirates prospects Yordanny De Los Santos and Javier Rivas hit back-to-back seventh-inning home runs to break open a 1-1 game and lead the Bucs to a 4-1 win over Tampa Bay.
Jose Urquidy starts for the Pirates today against Team Colombia as World Baseball Classic teams play their first exhibition games before the start of the tournament tomorrow when Taiwan plays Australia in Tokyo.
Team USA held their first workout yesterday under manager Mark DeRosa. They will play an exhibition game today against the San Francisco Giants with Paul Skenes taking the mound. Team USA opens the WBC tournament Friday in Houston against Brazil.
DeRosa has set his rotation for the first four games of the tournament. He will start Logan Webb on Friday against Brazil, Tarik Skubal against Great Britain on Saturday, and Skenes on Monday against Mexico in Houston. Tuesday’s starter against Italy will be Nolan McLean.
Skenes was enjoying his time looking around at his American teammates, but he told MLB Network that he’s serious about representing his country.
Team USA’s captain is the Yankees’ Aaron Judge.
