Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers dominate in spring win against Minnesota

Pitching ruled the day on the field for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.

Josh Lindblom, who spent the past two seasons in South Korea, turned in two shutout innings for the Pirates in their 3-1 victory against Minnesota in Fort Myers. Lindblom walked one, hit a batter and struck out one.

Among the seven relievers that followed Lindblom were Jared Hughes, Edgar Santana and Montana DuRapau.

Santana, who finished last season with Bradenton, is a non-roster invitee. He has a highly regarded slider, which was ranked the best in the Pirates organization by Baseball America. Santana worked a perfect sixth inning, including two strikeouts.

Hughes rebounded from a rough first outing to pitch a scoreless inning, although the veteran allowed a walk and a single.

DuRapau, who spent last season as Altoona’s closer, earned the save. He struck out two, walked one and allowed one hit.

Off the field, Josh Bell was cleared to run the bases. Bell had surgery on Feb. 1 to remove a loose body from his knee. He is expected to begin participating in simulated games this week and in Grapefruit League games next week.

The Pirates agreed to terms with 21 players who are not yet arbitration eligible. Among those players were Bell and Jameson Taillon.

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers dominate in spring win against Minnesota."