Jeff Locke gave the Pirates 6.0 shut out innings in yesterday's 6-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. Locke was helped out by a late inning three run bomb from Matt Joyce that put the Pirates ahead for good.
Normally, Coors Field is a launching pad for baseballs as it is one of the best hitters parks in all of the major leagues. Well last night that was not the case as both starting pitchers dominated on the mound and forced the offenses to scrap for runs. In the end, a three-run home run by Matt Joyce put the game out of reach and gave the Pirates a 6-1 victory.
Things started out great for the Pirates as Jeff Locke turned in his best start of the season so far. The left-handed three 6.0 innings of shut out ball giving up only five hits while walking two and striking out eight. The key to Locke's success was his ability to use the inside and outside corners effectively.
It appeared in the beginning of the game that the strike zone was widened by the home plate umpire. However, Locke knew what he could get called a strike and he used that to his advantage collecting a season high eight strikeouts on the night. While he still couldn't go more than six inning his effectiveness all but made up for it.
The first run of the game wasn't scored until the fifth inning when the Pirates struck first. The inning started off with Josh Harrison being hit by a pitch, followed by a Jordy Mercer single and a sacrifice bunt by Locke to set the Pirates up with second and third and one out. Then John Jaso grounded out to the second baseman allowing the first run of the game to score and giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
The Rockies would get out of the inning on the next play as Matt Joyce grounded out to end the inning. It was the first instance that the Pirates were able to break through against Rockies starter Chad Bettis, who pitched very effectively on the day.
Bettis threw 6.2 innings giving up four runs on six hits while walking two and striking out three. The numbers don't look too good, but through the first five innings of this contest, he was pitching stride for stride with Locke and causing the Pirates offense a lot of trouble.
The Pirates were finally able to break through against Bettis in the seventh inning. The inning started out pretty routine for the Rockies as Gregory Polanco singled, Harrison flew out, and Mercer grounded out to set the Pirates up with a runner at third with two outs.
Then the flood gates opened for the Pirates offense. A wild pitch scored Gregory Polanco giving the Pirates a 2-0 lead. Then Bettis walked two straight batters in Jason Rogers and Jaso giving the Pirates runners at first and second with two outs. Then the big hit happened, as Joyce launched an opposite field home run to give the Pirates a 5-0 lead. It was Joyce's second home run of the year and put the game out of reach for the Rockies.
The Rockies scored their only run of the game in the bottom of the seventh. Dj LiMaheui and Chrsthian Adams singled to start the inning. Then Gerrardo Parra hit into a fielders choice that brought in LeMaheui and cut the lead to 5-1. That was the only run The Rockies could score on the night.
Rob Scahill struggled only throwing 0.2 innings giving up that one run on two hits and had to be pulled with two outs. However, AJ Schugel came into replace him and pitched very well throwing 2.1 innings giving up two hits and striking out one. Since Schugel pitched more than two of the last innings of the game he picked up his first major league save in the contest. It was really special for him because the Colorado native got the chance to pitch in front of his friends and family.
Josh Harrison singled in the last run of the game as he drove in Gregory Polanco and gave the Pirates a 6-1 lead. It was refreshing to see a great outing by a starting pitcher for the Pirates. They hadn't had a good starting pitching outing since Cole's start in the third game of the San Diego series so it was nice to get good pitching combined with a lot of offensive production.
The Pirates are back in action tonight as they play game two of the four game series tonight at 8:40 p.m. The pitching matchup will be Jorge De La Rosa (1-2 9.87) for the Rockies taking on Gerrit Cole (1-2 2.70) for the Pirates.
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