The Pittsburgh Pirates scored eight runs in the seventh inning of last night's ball game en route to defeating the San Diego Padres by the final score of 11-1. Pitcher Gerrit Cole shined on the mound throwing six shut out innings in the Pirates victory.
Coming into game three of a three game series with the San Diego Padres, the Pittsburgh Pirates offense had struggled to get anything done against Padres pitching. However, that all changed last night as the Pirates exploded for an eight-run seventh-inning last night as they defeated the Padres by the final score of 11-1.
Offensively, the Pirates had five multi-hit performances and five out of the eight position players in the lineup collected a hit. The four through seven hitters went a combined 8 for 19 on the night and lead the Pirates on the night. Josh Harrison had one of his best games of the season offensively going 2 for 4 with two RBI, a walk, and two runs scored.
On the mound, Gerrit Cole also had a bounce back start and helped stop the Pirates current two game slide. He threw 6.0 innings while giving up four hits and striking out seven batters on the night. Last time out, Cole did not get much run support from his offense and it lead to a 7-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers. However, today runs were not a problem and Cole really did not need them.
The scoring started in the top of the second as right fielder Gregory Polanco laced a two-out double into the right field gap to set the Pirates up. Then Harrison followed with the first of his two RBI on the night as he drove in Polanco with an RBI single to left field to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. This would be just the start of a night full of offensive production from the Pirates.
The scoring continued in the top of the fourth after Starling Marte lead off with a single followed by two ground outs by Francisco Cervelli and Gregory Polanco. Harrison would step up and deliver again with another two-out RBI single to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. Then Harrison would cause havoc on the base paths as he stole second base on the next pitch.
Then Padres starting pitcher James Shields lost his command as he through a wild pitch that allowed Harrison to move up to third base. Then he walked Jordy Mercer and, as Mercer was stealing second, Shields threw another wild pitch allowing Harrison to score and putting the Pirates up 3-0. The Pirates causing havoc on the base paths has been a common theme in this series. It lead to a balk call in game one that was overturned but then recalled and came back tonight in the form of too many wild pitches.
Shields struggled for the Padres throwing only 5.0 innings giving up three runs on five hits while walking two and striking out five. The Pirates batters really made him work on the evening as he had already thrown 100 pitches by the fifth inning. This seems to be the Pirates recipe for success this season, work the pitch count and get to the bullpen as fast as you can. The Pirates have been pretty successful in that endeavor as they have been getting on base at a high rate and have been working deep into counts.
In inning number seven is when the flood gates opened for the Pirates offense. The inning started out om a rough note as Harrison reached first base on a dropped third strike and Jordy Mercer was hit by a pitch. Cole would be the first out of the inning as he popped out giving the Bucs runners on first and second with one outs.
Then the scoring started as John Jaso lined a double to left field that scored Harrison and gave the Pirates a 4-0 lead. Then an intentional walk to Andrew McCutchen loaded the bases with one out setting up the double play opportunity for the Padres. Then the Pirates received three straight RBI hits to expand their lead.
David Freese hit an RBI single to left that scored Mercer and Sean Rodriguez, who ran for Jaso. Then Marte followed that up with an RBI double that was just inches from being a home run that scored McCutchen, and finally Francisco Cervelli singled to center field bringing in both Freese and Marte and giving the Pirates a commanding 9-0 lead.
The inning was capped off when the Pirates added two more runs on a force out play by Mercer that scored Cervelli, and a bases loaded walk to Sean Rodriguez that brought in Gregory Polanco giving the Pirates an 11-0 lead. The final out of the inning was recorded by Matt Joyce who grounded out to first base after pinch hitting for Andrew McCutchen.
In total, Padres pitcher Leonel Campos was only able to get one out in the inning giving up seven runs, five earned, on four hits while walking one and striking out another. Reliever Brad Hand had to come relieve Campos and gave up a run of his own on two hits while walking two in his 1.2 innings of work.
The Pirates bullpen did a good job of keeping the Padres offense at bay through the final three innings of the game. Neftali Feliz came in and threw a scoreless seventh inning striking out one. He was followed by Rob Scahill who gave up the only run of the night. Scahill went 1.0 inning giving up one run on one hit while striking out a batter. Mark Melancon finished the game throwing a perfect inning of work and striking out a batter.
The Padres only run of the night came in the bottom of the eighth inning after Adam Rosales was hit by a pitch and Jabari Blash grounded out to third moving Rosales to scoring position. Jon Jay hit an RBI single to right field that scored Rosales and gave the Padres their only run of the game making the score 11-1.
With the win, the Pirates improve to 8-8 on the season and currently sit in third place in the National League Central behind the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates have been playing good baseball early on, their key will be to become more consistent on the mound so that this offense can keep scoring runs the way it is capable of and win a lot of ball games.
The Pirates return to action tonight as they play the first of a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Arizona. Patrick Corbin (1-1 2.75) will be on the mound for the Diamondbacks coming off of a rough start against the Colorado Rockies where he gave up four runs on eight hits in 7.0 innings of work. the Pirates will oppose with Jon Niese (2-0 3.50). Niese is coming off his best start as a Pirate when he went 7.0 shut out innings against the Brewers last Saturday night. First pitch from Chase Field is scheduled for 9:40 p.m.
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