Ace bandage? Gorzelanny scratched at last minute

Pirates left-hander Tom Gorzelanny was scratched from Thursday's scheduled start against the Phillies at Bright House Networks Field because of minor shoulder irritation. Gorzelanny (14-10, 3.88 ERA last season) is scheduled to pitch in relief Sunday against the Rays at McKechnie Field.

Left-hander Phil Dumatrait, who was claimed off waivers from Cincinnati in October, replaced Gorzelanny. Dumatrait pitched two scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk and striking out two batters, including Ryan Howard.

"It (Gorzelanny's shoulder) hasn't hurt him off the mound, but it hasn't felt completely right the last couple of days," said general manager Neal Huntington, who added the cold weather made the decision easier. "We toyed with the idea of having him pitch an inning, but decided it was better to be overly cautious. If it was April 1 (the regular season), we wouldn't even think about it. It won't affect his timetable at all."

Gorzelanny also sounded relatively unworried.

"Might as well do it now instead of try to push through it," he said. "I'm not trying to be a hero in spring training. I'm trying to get ready for the season."

Quote of the day

"This ain't cold. You can actually go out on your back porch, get a blanket, sit in a chair and just fall asleep. Up north, you can't do that. You'd get frostbite. You might freeze to death." — Pirates pitcher and Bradenton resident Ian Snell on the "cold front" that invaded the area this week.

Up next

The Pirates play their official spring training home opener at 1:05 p.m. today/Friday at McKechnie Field against the Phillies. Ian Snell is expected to start for Pittsburgh against Chad Durbin. Other Pirates expected to pitch are Sean Burnett, Elmer Dessens, Evan Meek, Franquelis Osoria, T.J. Beam and Romulo Sanchez.

Shades of the past

The "bad-news" Pirates resurfaced in the bottom of the third inning of Thursday's 11-6 victory against the Phillies, when relief pitcher Bryan Bullington surrendered five runs. The problems began when third baseman Chris Gomez dropped a foul pop-up by Greg Dobbs, who took advantage by lining a single. Carlos Ruiz then lifted a high fly to left, which Nyjer Morgan lost in the sun for a ground-rule double.

After a run-scoring grounder by Jimmy Rollins and a walk, Chase Utley knocked in a run with a double. Ryan Howard followed by driving a pitch from Bullington through the teeth of a strong wind in the direction of Hillsborough County for a three-run home run and a 5-1 Phillies lead.

"(Bullington) could have been out of the inning (without the defensive lapses)," said Pirates manager John Russell. "He just got some balls elevated, and he needs to continue to work on getting the ball down and getting a little more sink on it."

Two for one

In addition to the game at McKechnie, the Pirates face the Phillies in a "B" squad game at 10 a.m. today at Pirate City. Scheduled Pirates pitchers include Jimmy Barthmaier, Masumi Kuwata, Casey Fossum, Adam Bernero, Mike Thompson, Hector Carrasco and Jesse Chavez.

- Mike Henry, Herald Staff