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Harrison drives in two, Pirates walk-off winners

Right-handed reliever Irwin sharp in relief, striking out seven in 3 2/3 innings

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Josh Harrison's second run-scoring hit tied the game and then Alex Presley, who singled with one out in the bottom of the ninth, scored on Carlos Paulino's fielder's choice as the Pirates walked off a winner against Baltimore, 4-3, on Monday at McKechnie Field.

Jared Goedert singled off Adam Russell to lead off the inning and was forced out at second on Clint Robinson's grounder to second. Jordy Mercer ran for Robinson, and took third on Presley's single before scoring on Harrison's single to make it 3-3.

Paulino hit a grounder to second and, even with the Orioles' infield playing in, Presley beat Ryan Flaherty's throw home to win it.

Kris Johnson pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to earn the victory.

Brad Hawpe homered to right off Orioles reliever Daniel Schlereth in the eighth to make it 3-2.

Pirates starter Jeff Locke looked strong through 1 2/3 innings, but surrendered hits to seven of the last 13 men he faced. Included in that stretch was L.J. Hoes' run-scoring single and a long home run from Lew Ford, his second of the spring.

"Fastballs, up," Locke said about what he did wrong after allowing nine baserunners in 3 1/3 innings. "You'd like to get better results, but I did get all my work in and had a good feeling for my other pitches. That's a good-hitting team, aggressive, they like to hit early in the count and they made me pay for my mistakes."

Reliever Phil Irwin, a 26-year-old right-hander who spent most of last season in Double-A, struck out seven in 3 2/3 innings.

Orioles left-hander Zach Britton lost the shutout with two outs in the seventh on Harrison's RBI double, the only hit he allowed, to make it 3-1.

Up next: The Pirates are off Tuesday -- no game, no workouts -- and will be back at McKechnie Field on Wednesday to play host to the Blue Jays at 1:05 p.m. ET. The game can be heard live on an exclusive webcast on MLB.com. James McDonald is scheduled to face Mark Buehrle, as the Bucs play their eighth home date in an 11-game stretch. Nine of their last 14 spring games will be on the road.

Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog Change for a Nickel. He can also be found on Twitter @Tom_Singer.
Read More: Pittsburgh Pirates, Alex Presley, James McDonald, Josh Harrison, Jared Goedert, Jordy Mercer, Carlos Paulino, Kris Johnson, Jeff Locke, Phil Irwin, Brad Hawpe