It was a bit of a wet night at PNC Park, as a rain delay split this game into two halves. Fortunately for the Pittsburgh Pirates they led at the end of both, picking up a 7-6 win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night to open a four-game series. This will be quite the test for Pittsburgh, with Atlanta holding the best record in baseball entering the night.
The Pirates would use a sixth run third inning to jump out to a big lead. Liover Peguero scored the first run on a Connor Joe ground out. Andrew McCutchen then plated Bryan Reynolds on a double to center, he would then come in to score when Henry Davis singled to center. Davis came around on a Jared Triolo single to center. The final run of the inning came when Peguero singled home Endy Rodriguez.
The Braves would battle back with four runs of their own in the fourth. Ozzie Albies started things off with a solo homer to right. Matt Olsen would hit an RBI single to right center, and then score when Marcell Ozuna drove in a pair of runs on a single to right center. Joe would hit a 417 ft. solo home run in the bottom of the inning, and it would end up being the game winning run for Pittsburgh. Atlanta scored their fifth run of the night in the fifth when Olsen singled home Austin Riley. They would collect the final run of the night when Michael Harris II scored on an Albies ground out to first.
The Pirates used seven pitchers on the night. Osvaldo Bido worked the first four innings allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits with three strikeouts. Yerry De Los Santos and Ryan Borucki combined to pitch the fifth. Borucki allowed one hit, while De Los Santos gave up one run on two hits with a strikeout.
Jose Hernandez walked a batter and allowed one hit while collecting the first two outs of the sixth. He was replaced by Carmen Mlodzinski who got the final out of the inning and then worked the seventh to collect his second win of the year. The eighth inning belonged to Angel Perdomo who struck out two and allowed a hit. David Bednar earned his 23rd save after allowing one run on one hit in the ninth.
Spencer Strider lasted only 2.2 innings for the Braves. Strider gave up six runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Atlanta then used four pitchers to cover the remaining 5.1 innings. In total they would allow one run on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
A one run victory after holding a six-run lead is typical of Pittsburgh, but a win is a win. I was hoping for a split when this series started and the win tonight makes that a real possibility. These two teams will matchup again on Tuesday night at 7:05pm. Probable pitchers for that game include Mitch Keller for the Pirates and Yonny Chirinos for the Braves.
Record vs. Braves: 1-0
Record vs. N.L. East: 8-6
Record at Home: 27-28
Overall Record: 51-61
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
