BRADENTON, Fla. -- Joe Musgrove was declared healthy by Neal Huntington on Tuesday morning, but it's becoming increasingly unlikely that the newest member of the Pirates' rotation will be stretched out in time for opening day.
Musgrove, acquired from the Astros in the Gerrit Cole trade and named the fifth starter at the start of spring training, lasted only four innings in the 12-6 loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday in Fort Myers, allowing six runs on eight hits in only his second Grapefruit League start. Although he also pitched two innings in a minor-league game, he has yet to reach the fifth inning this spring and will have time for only one more start since only seven games remain.
Musgrove has allowed eight runs in 6 2/3 innings in his two starts, walking three with seven strikeouts. The Red Sox hit him hard early, scoring three runs in the second inning with Rafael Devers' two-run homer and an RBI single by Eduardo Nunez.
The Red Sox added two runs on three hits in the third, including an RBI double by Andrew Benintendi to end Musgrove's outing. Musgrove got six groundouts, but he was still erratic at times.
With two days off in the first two series of the season, the Pirates may not need a fifth starter until April 8. They could choose to have either Steven Brault or Tyler Glasnow make a spot start, or Musgrove could have a shorter outing during the second or third series of the season with Brault or Glasnow throwing multiple innings to bridge the gap for the back-end of the bullpen.
"Joe really had a minor hiccup, but as you’re getting stretched out to get to six and 100, a minor hiccup can throw you off that chart and the calendar becomes a challenge," Huntington told reporters Tuesday morning. "He will be healthy for opening day. It’s a matter of where he falls in the rotation. With the multiple off-days early, how far do we push – [Ivan] Nova starts opening day, do we push him to his sixth day or his seventh day because of the off-days? How do we juggle that rotation? The challenge is Joe will be healthy; it’s a matter of, is he built up in time to make start X, Y or Z and where does X, Y or Z fall in that initial time through? We’re looking forward to him making a large number of starts for us this year. Which start he gets is something we’re working through at this point.”
• Edgar Santana, Kevin Siegrist, Tyler Jones and Jordan Milbrath also pitched for the Pirates.
Siegrist, a left-handed reliever signed to a minor-league contract last month, allowed three consecutive singles in the sixth. Then, Jones entered, surrendering a three-run homer to Sam Travis. Siegrist, who will likely earn a spot in the bullpen, had thrown three consecutive scoreless innings entering Tuesday.
• Jordan Luplow, competing for a spot on the opening day roster, hit a solo home run in the third inning, and Jordy Mercer, who went 2 for 3, delivered an RBI double. Also, Adam Frazier added an RBI in the third. Frazier is batting .387 this spring with one home run and eight RBIs in 37 at-bats.
• Max Moroff and Nick Kingham were among the 11 players cut from major league camp Tuesday, and Neal Huntington revealed he's deciding whether to keep an extra bench bat or an eighth member of the bullpen.
• Here's Clint Hurdle's lineup for the game:
1. Adam Frazier, LF
2. Josh Harrison, 2B
3. Colin Moran, 3B
4. David Freese, 1B
5. Francisco Cervelli, C
6. Sean Rodriguez, CF
7. Jordan Luplow, RF
8. Jordy Mercer, SS
9. Joe Musgrove, P
• The Pirates will travel to Fort Myers to play the Twins at 6:05 p.m. on Wednesday. Trevor Williams is scheduled to start with Richard Rodriguez and Kyle Crick in relief.