After a day game to open their three-game series, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers played under the lights at PNC Park on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh grabbed an early lead, Detroit then bounced back, before the Pirates took the lead for good in the sixth. That, in combination with a strong bullpen performance, carried them to a 3-2 victory.
Colin Moran got his team on the board in the first inning with a sac fly to right to plate Ke’Bryan Hayes. That lead would hold until the third when the Tigers would plate a pair. Derek Hill hit a triple to left to bring in Willi Castro. Hill was then driven in two batters later on a Robbie Grossman single to left center. Pittsburgh grabbed the lead for good in the sixth when Ben Gamel drove home Yoshi Tsutsugo and Bryan Reynolds with a single to right.
Both teams’ starters only made it through four innings, which put added stress on the bullpens. Pirates starter Dillon Peters allowed two runs on three hits with five strikeouts and three walks. His counterpart Wily Peralta allowed one run on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Detroit used four men out the pen, and aside from Alex Lange in the sixth, they all did the job. Lange was tagged with his second loss of the season after allowing two runs on three hits.
Shelby Miller was the first of five members of the Pittsburgh bullpen to see action. He allowed one hit and struck out one batter. Sam Howard collected his third win of the year after completing the sixth inning with one hit allowed and one walk. The seventh belonged to Chad Kuhl, who struck out and walked one batter. David Bednar gave up a hit and struck out a batter, before handing the ball over to Chris Stratton in the ninth. A scoreless ninth with one hit allowed and two batters struck out, got him his third save of 2021.
The Pirates have had success against the Tigers and the American League this season. Tomorrow will mark the final interleague game for Pittsburgh in 2021. It will also be another chance for them to s____ a series, for the first time since August 2020. Game time for tomorrow is 6:35pm with Mitch Keller taking on Matt Manning.
Record vs. Tigers: 4-1
Record vs. American League: 10-9
Record at Home: 30-38
Overall record: 50-89
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
