The Pirates entered tonight’s game against the Miami Marlins a half game back in the N.L. Central behind the Cincinnati Reds. Even though the Marlins have been an underachieving club this year, they are still incredibly dangerous offensively, making this weekend’s series a very interesting one at PNC Park.
After falling behind early, the Pirates used the homerun once again to take a lead midway through the game, and held on beat the Marlins 4-3 tonight.
Miami got to Kevin Correia early in the first inning…the first batter in fact. Jose Reyes connected on a solo homerun to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead, and later in the inning, Emilio Bonifacio singled, stole 2nd and 3rd, and scored on Carlos Lee’s groundout. But Correia settled down after the opening inning, and, other than a manufactured run in the fourth inning, he held the Marlins in check. The Pirates’ starter lasted five innings, giving up three runs on eight hits. He earned his seventh victory of the season with his effort tonight.
Once again, the Pirates used the long ball to do some damage tonight. Pedro Alvarez (20) and Neil Walker (8) each connected on a solo homerun, while Garrett Jones and Clint Barmes each added an RBI single. Walker’s round-tripper in the fifth inning turned out to be the game-winner.
Walker, as well as Andrew McCutchen, had two hits tonight, and while the Pirates only managed a total of nine hits, each proved to be very effective and crucial to their victory tonight.
What can you say about this team right now? They are now a season-best 12 games over .500 at 52-40, and their ability to consistently drive the ball out of the ballpark continues to be a game-changer night after night. While he didn’t make it look pretty, Kevin Correia once again kept the team in the ballgame throughout his innings of work, while the bullpen was phenomenal tonight. The combination of Chris Resop, Jared Hughes, Jason Grilli, and Joel Hanrahan tossed four innings of shutout baseball. After getting himself into trouble with two runners on and one out, Hanrahan struck out the final two batters of the game to earn his 27th save of the season.
Walkerwas the star of the night for Pittsburgh. Not only were his two hits, including the game-winning homerun, huge in the game, but he also made a number of fantastic plays in the field to keep the Marlins from taking the lead back down the stretch. McCutchen added a pair of hits, bumping his average up to .372 on the year.
The Pirates are off to a great start on this home stand, and will look ahead to clinch the series victory against the Marlins tomorrow night. A.J. Burnett will start on Saturday against Miami’s Carlos Zambrano. First pitch is slated for 7:05pm.
Record vs. Marlins: 2-1
Record vs. N.L. East: 12-10
Record At Home: 30-14
Overall Record: 52-40
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
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