Pirates blast two homers in 7-2 win over Blue Jays

The Pittsburgh Pirates responded from Monday’s drubbing against New York with a 7-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday afternoon. Both teams collected six hits in the game, but the Pirates gained the upper hand by hitting two home runs and by taking advantage of two errors by Toronto.

After Andrew McCutchen singled to start the bottom of the fourth, Carlos Santana broke open the scoring by driving a pitch over the wall in right center.

The Blue Jays tied the game in the top of the fifth on a Rob Brantly triple and Whit Merrifield single, but Pittsburgh reclaimed the lead in the seventh after Tyler Heineman reached on an error by Toronto’s Wynton Bernard.

Lolo Sanchez then added insurance in the eighth with his first home run of the spring.

The final two runs came across later in the inning after Zach Britton misplayed a ball in right.

Mitch Keller posted another strong performance on the mound, allowing just three hits while collecting three strikeouts over as many innings. Carmen Mlodzinski earned the win in relief after retiring the side on eight pitches in the seventh. Chase De Jong, Daniel Zamora, Tyler Chatwood and Cody Bolton also threw scoreless innings.

The Pirates, now 3-6-2, take on the Baltimore Orioles tomorrow in Sarasota.