One day after they carried them to victory, the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen faltered with the lead twice against the Miami Marlins and ultimately saw their modest four-game win streak come to an end. Miami took the lead in the eighth, and after Pittsburgh battled back, ended up winning in on a wild pitch in the tenth by the final of 5-4.
JT Brubaker pitched a gem tonight and deserved to get a win, unfortunately his offense did not back him up. Brubaker pitched seven innings, allowing just three hits to go with nine strikeouts and two walks. The Marlins countered with Pablo Lopez, who would allow just one run on one hit over five innings to go with three strikeouts and four walks.
The Pirates took the lead in the fifth when Ben Gamel hit an RBI single to right to plate Oneil Cruz. That lead lasted until the eighth when Avisail Garcia drove in a pair with a single to right center. Those two runs came off of Duane Underwood Jr. He would allow two runs on one hit with a strikeout and walk during his lone inning on the mound.
Michael Chavis tied the game in the ninth when he doubled home Daniel Vogelbach. Pittsburgh had runners at second and third with no outs, but could not cash in any further. The Pirates then took a two-run lead in the tenth. The first run scored on a Vogelbach groundout. Run number two crossed the plate when Ke’Bryan Hayes singled to center.
David Bednar picked up his third loss of the year after allowing three runs on three hits with a walk in just .2 of an inning in the tenth. Miguel Rojas scored on a Jon Berti single to get things going in the inning. Jesus Aguilar drove in the tying run with a single to shallow center. The winning run, Aguilar, scored on a wild pitch to end the game.
Tough loss for many reasons. One, the Pirates got a great start from Brubaker and they could not support him offensively, and secondly the bullpen that was so good Tuesday night simply could not get the outs when it mattered most. Pittsburgh will now try to win this series and begin a new winning streak tomorrow afternoon at 12:10pm. Zach Thompson will start for the Pirates, Braxton Garrett for the Marlins.
Record vs. Marlins: 2-1
Record vs. N.L. East: 6-8
Record on the Road: 18-28
Overall Record: 38-51
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
