Hart claimed by Dodgers, wrapping up 5-4 loss

BRADENTON, Fla. - Left-hander Donnie Hart, designated for assignment by the Orioles on March 1, has been claimed off waivers by the Dodgers.

The Orioles designated Hart to make room for infielder Hanser Alberto. He posted a 5.59 ERA and 2.224 WHIP in 20 appearances with the Orioles last summer.

In his only spring inning, Hart retired the side in order with two strikeouts. The former 27th round pick has a 3.43 ERA and 1.500 WHIP in 93 major league games.

Branden Kline fell behind 2-0 to the Pirates' Cole Tucker leading off the bottom of the ninth inning and surrendered a walk-off home run in a 5-4 loss at LECOM Park.

All five runs for Pittsburgh came on homers, including four off Yefry Ramirez.

Ramirez is battling to make the opening day roster. Never mind whether he can start or relieve. An outing like today's isn't going to plant him on solid ground.

The Pirates hit four solo home runs off Ramirez over three innings - from Erik Gonzalez and Adam Frazier in the fifth and Patrick Kivlehan and Tucker in the seventh. They led 4-3 until Anthony Santander tied the game in the eighth with a single that plated Christopher Bostick.

Bostick doubled twice in two innings, but the Orioles stranded two runners in the ninth.

Ramirez crouched on the mound while Kivlehan's ball disappeared over the fence in left-center field. He waited for a new ball. He got the same old result.

In four spring appearances, Ramirez has been charged with six runs and nine hits over 10 innings. Today's outing was bizarre, with Ramirez striking out six batters when baseballs weren't being crushed.

"I just thought Yefry got into some predictable counts," manager Brandon Hyde said. "I think one was the changeup, the other three were fastballs kind of thigh-high. Kind of ambush, selling out on fastballs on him. Around that he pitched pretty good with some really good changeups. But just left the ball in the middle part of the plate three times and they had their home run swing going."

The coaching point for Ramirez?

"You just can't fall behind in the big leagues, like Kline right there in the ninth inning," Hyde said. "Fall behind 2-0, they're going to take their A swing. And you have to come in there.

"To be effective you have to really be able to keep guys off-balance and keep guys off your fastball or off one side of the plate. And if you get predictable, guys take really good swings on you, and these are big league hitters. The key is to be able to go up, down, in, out, pitch mix in non-predictable times. I think Mike (Wright) did that today."

Ramirez followed left-hander Josh Osich, who allowed two hits and got a key double play in the fourth. Osich followed starter Wright, who shut out the Pirates on one hit with three strikeouts over three innings and hasn't surrendered a run in 10 innings this spring.

"The results are obviously really good," Hyde said. "I was just impressed with, I thought he threw a bunch of really good cutters and his pitch mix was outstanding. I thought he was really unpredictable. And he threw strikes and went after hitters and was aggressive. Continues to really pitch well.

"It looks like he's got confidence in his cutter right now, and you saw a lot of tough swings, bad swings where it was really moving. So I'm hoping it's giving him confidence. It's like he's just continuing to get better every outing as he goes along."

Miguel Castro tossed a scoreless eighth with two singles allowed and three strikeouts.

Stevie Wilkerson started at first base again today and collected his first extra-base hit of the spring, a home run to center field leading off the fifth inning. He went 1-for-3 and is 4-for-21 with six RBIs in 10 games.

His versatility has been his greatest asset.

"I've been off to a bit of a slow start at the plate, but I've been playing some solid defense and moving around a lot, which has been good," Wilkerson said. "Overall, camp has been a lot of fun. I've had a really good vibe among the guys. I think collectively we've had a pretty good start."

It's been a unique responsibility for Wilkerson to change positions almost on a daily basis, something he didn't begin to do until the Orioles drafted him out of Clemson University in 2014.

"Every day I come to the field knowing that I'm playing baseball and that's it, and that's an exciting thing," he said. "I guess responsibility-wise it's just checking your name on the lineup card and fulfilling whatever you have to do that way. But overall, I love moving around."

Workouts are adjusted for a player still transitioning to a utility role.

"Today I threw with the outfielders to the bases," he said, "and then came in and took infield at first base because that's where I was today."

There's no way to avoid monitoring the competition. Today's lineup also included Alcides Escobar, who had a run-scoring single in the second, and Rio Ruiz, who walked and delivered an RBI single. Richie Martin and Drew Jackson have been extremely impressive, and the Orioles could keep both Rule 5 infielders.

"I think, naturally, you look around and see how everyone's doing," Wilkerson said. "You just control what you can control and put your best foot forward every day, and that's what I try to focus on.

"I think everyone's curious how it's going to shape up, but other than that you just come in and do your best every day."