About Last Night: Yanks vs Pirates

by Andrew Hefner

March 10, 2026

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The Big Story

At the height of the World Baseball Classic, many are distracted from the work being put in back at the true Spring Training locations across Florida and Arizona. For the Yankees, despite being without their captain Aaron Judge, and plenty of other top talent, they still fielded a star-studded lineup for a classic spring night contest with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Recent addition back to the lineup, Giancarlo Stanton collected his first hits and home run of spring, while Max Fried, the newly named Opening Day starter, worked his way through the visiting Pittsburgh lineup with little issue. Joining Stanton and Fried as the major leaguers in the field included Ben Rice at first, Cody Bellinger in right, Ryan McMahon at third, and Oswaldo Cabrera at second.

Pirates starting pitcher Jose Urquidy put in 3.2 innings of work against the tough Yankees lineup and struggled mightily throughout, surrendering three earned runs on four hits with no strikeouts. Urquidy spent time in the majors with the Houston Astros for five seasons before more recently appearing in two games for the Detroit Tigers in 2025.

Stanton was one of those to get the better of Urquidy as he rocked a 424-foot homerun in the second inning, before in the third, when Paul DeJong knocked one out as well, followed by a Bellinger double for all three of the Yankees' runs in the game.

Fried was pulled after giving up a home run to Endy Rogriguez, who made his debut for the Pirates in 2025, in the fifth inning. Jake Bird came in relief and did not fare well, walking two and giving up two runs in 0.2 innings of work.

From there, the game was mainly uneventful as the minor league hands came in and the Pirates tacked on two more in the late innings for a final score of 5-3 from Steinbrenner field in favor of the visitors.

Player of the Game

In Giancarlo Stanton’s third game of spring, he began to finally look like his old self, picking up his first hit of 2026, for a home run, and adding on a single in the sixth inning as well. He is dealing with lingering elbow problems, but can clearly still put bat to ball and still holds his classic power.

Final Line: 2-3, Home Run, Single

Notable Performances

Max Fried: 4.0 IP, 6 K, 2 H, 1 ER

Cody Bellinger 1-3, 2B, RBI

Osvaldo Bido: 1.0 IP, 2 K

Paul DeJong: 1-3, HR, RBI

Better to Forget

Jake Bird: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 BB

Ben Rice: 0-3

Ryan McMahon: 0-3

My Take

With all of the rumors surrounding Giancarlo Stanton, I am glad to see that he is well and truly physically able to be out there and still hitting homers like his usual self. He is still an incredibly valuable piece to the Yankees' offense, and they need him on top of his game if there is any chance of success this season.

Prior to the game, Spencer Jones was optioned to AAA, meaning he will officially not make the Opening Day roster this year. The huge amount of outfield depth for the Yankees has really hurt his chances, and I see it more likely than ever now that he will be moved at some point before the deadline, now that his stock is so high from the power-crazed swing training run he had.

Next Up

New York will head out to Clearwater today for a game against the Phillies at 1:05. The matchup is available for streaming on the Gotham Sports App and will feature Luis Gil taking the mound against Tanner Banks of Philadelphia.