Cole strong in outing, but Pirates fall

The Associated Press

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Top prospect Gerrit Cole allowed one run and five hits in four innings Saturday in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Cole, the top pick in the 2011 amateur draft, struck out four and walked none. He has a 3.60 ERA this spring training in three appearances over 10 innings.

Twins starter Cole De Vries, trying to earn a spot in Minnesota’s rotation, gave up one run and three hits in four innings.

Gaby Sanchez hit a sacrifice fly in the first, but Josh Willingham’s RBI grounder tied the score in the bottom half. Brandon Boggs, a non-roster invitee to Twins camp, hit a go-ahead single off Kris Johnson with two outs in the eighth.

Twins centerfield prospect Aaron Hicks led off the game with a single, stole second and scored on Willingham’s grounder. Hicks is batting .333 (15 for 45).

Tigers 3, Cardinals 0

JUPITER, Fla. — Shawn Hill allowed one hit in four innings, and Matt Tuiasosopo hit a long homer to lead Detroit.

Red Sox 9, Rays 2

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Alfredo Aceves hit Tampa Bay’s Sean Rodriguez with a pitch and the two had a heated exchange that nearly escalated into a fight in the fifth inning of Boston’s victory.

Rodriguez hit his third home run of spring training off Aceves in the third inning after Desmond Jennings reached on a bunt single. With one out in the fifth things turned nasty. After being hit by Aceves, Rodriguez had to be restrained near first base.

Marlins 4, Mets 2

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Placido Polanco was 2 for 3 with a double in his return from an oblique strain that had sidelined him since March 1 as Miami beat the Mets.

Chris Coghlan was 2 for 4, including a RBI triple in the fourth off Shaun Marcum. Marlins prospect Christian Yelich added an opposite-field home run to left in the eighth against Jeurys Familia.

Orioles 3, Blue Jays 1

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Jake Arrieta worked into the fifth inning without allowing a run as he tries to win the No. 5 spot in the Orioles’ rotation, leading Baltimore to the win.

In his last two outings, Arrieta has pitched five scoreless innings in 9 2-3 innings. Arrieta struck out two and walked three in 4 2-3 innings.

Rockies 5, Reds 1

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Todd Helton hit his first home run of the spring, a two-run shot off Johnny Cueto, to lead the Colorado Rockies to a win over the Cincinnati Reds.

The 39-year old Helton had one hit in his first seven at-bats this spring before connecting for a two-run shot.

Cubs (ss) 8, Royals 3

MESA, Ariz. — Alfonso Soriano connected for one of three first-inning homer against Bruce Chen and a Chicago Cubs split squad beat the Kansas City Royals.

David DeJesus led off the game with a homer to right field. Then after Brent Lillibridge doubled and Anthony Rizzo struck out, Soriano hit his second of spring training. The 20-year-old Javier Baez followed with another long ball and also hit one in the fifth inning off Chen.

Cubs (ss) 5, Rangers 1

LAS VEGAS — Jeff Samardzija scattered three hits over five scoreless innings for a Chicago Cubs split squad in a victory over the Texas Rangers.

Mariners 5, Rockies 2

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Kendrys Morales hit his third home run of spring training and Erasmo Ramirez tossed six strong innings as the Seattle Mariners beat the Colorado Rockies.

Reds (ss) 9, Brewers 9

PHOENIX — Joey Votto and Ryan Hanigan homered for Cincinnati and minor leaguer Khris Davis connected twice for Milwaukee, and a Reds split squad and the Brewers tied 9-9 in nine innings.

Reds starter Mike Leake allowed 10 hits and seven runs — five earned — in 3 1-3 innings of his third start.

Athletics (ss) 13, Angels 13

PHOENIX — Josh Reddick hit a three-run homer off Jered Weaver in the first inning, Luke Montz and Yoenis Cespedes each had two-run drives in the second off the Angels’ ace and an Oakland Athletics split squad blew a big lead before rallying for a tie with Los Angeles.

Padres 10, Diamondbacks 6

PEORIA, Ariz. — Diamondbacks ace Ian Kenndey gave up consecutive homers then was hit on knee by a comebacker on next pitch, and Arizona lost to the San Diego Padres.

Braves 4, Yankees (ss) 0

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Paul Maholm pitched two-hit ball for six innings and Juan Francisco homered to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 4-0 victory over a New York Yankees split-squad on Saturday.

Maholm, who struck out four and walked one, has not allowed a run over 14 2-3 innings in his past three spring starts.

Francisco’s two-run drive in the fifth inning off David Phelps was his fourth homer of the spring, and the third baseman also had a single.

Phelps, who is competing for a spot in the Yankees rotation, had a 0.64 ERA in his previous four starts, but he allowed seven hits and four runs in five innings. He struck out six and walked one.