Anthony Alford snaps out of slump with home run, but Orioles rally past Pirates

SARASOTA, Fla. — Anthony Alford spent spring training swinging and missing as the Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder was hitless with nine strikeouts in his first 12 at-bats.

When Alford finally connected, he made it count.

Alford hit a two-run home run over the right-field fence off Keegna Akin in the fifth inning to snap out of his slump, and Canaan Smith-Njigba made it back-to-back jacks by sending a Marcos Diplan pitch high off the batter’s eye in straightaway center for a three-run lead.

But the Baltimore Orioles used a seven-run fifth inning to pull away from the Pirates and cruise to a 14-5 win Saturday night in a Grapefruit League game Saturday night at Ed Smith Stadium.

The Orioles took a 2-0 first-inning lead when Anthony Santander hit 2-0 changeup for a two-run homer off Pirates starter Zach Thompson. Thompson answered by retiring the side in order in both the second and third innings, with a pair of strikeouts.

“How you respond to a homer is definitely how you compete on the mound,” said Thompson, who allowed two runs on one hit and one walk with three strikeouts in three innings. “Obviously, it’s really unfortunate to hang a changeup. But getting back out there and trying to compete and keep my team in a winning situation is the No. 1 priority.”

With one out in the bottom of the second, first baseman Daniel Vogelbach hit a flare to shallow center that bounced out of the glove of Orioles shortstop Ramon Urias for a single. Kevin Newman smacked a double to deep center to score Vogelbach and cut the deficit to 2-1.

After Greg Allen drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, Yoshi Tsutsugo doubled down the left-field line to score Allen and tie the score at 2-2. Alford drilled Keegan Akin’s 0-2 pitch over the right-field fence to give the Pirates a 4-2 lead.

Vogelbach went 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored from the leadoff spot, and Tsutsugo 3 for 4 with a double, a walk and a run scored while hitting cleanup as the designated hitter to improve his spring slash line to .455/.571/.909 through five games.

“I’m getting into the groove,” Tsutsugo said, “but I still need to make some adjustments.”

The Orioles pounded lefty reliever Sam Howard for five runs on two doubles, a two-run by Chris Owings and two walks in the fifth, then Richie Martin added a bases-loaded triple by Richie Martin off Austin Roberts for a 9-5 lead.

Baltimore added three more runs in the seventh, on a two-run single by Rylan Bannon, who scored on a throwing error by Pirates second baseman Maikel Escotto to stretch the lead to 12-5.

Patrick Dorrian started the eighth with a single and scored from third on a throwing error by lefty reliever Aaron Fletcher, who bobbled a dribbler then threw the ball into right field. Fletcher left with the bases loaded, and Martin drew a walk against Noe Toribio to score Stowers.

Jose Quintana is scheduled to start against Gerrit Cole when the Pirates play the New York Yankees at 1:05 p.m. Sunday at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.