Hope everyone had a safe and enjoying Memorial Day Weekend. While you all were cooking out and what not, the Pirates were in the midst of a 5-game road trip through Milwaukee (or the House of Horrors as most would say) and Detroit.
— The Buccos started out in Milwaukee for a 3-game set in said “House of Horrors” on Friday night as A.J. Burnett faced Marco Estrada.
Burnett had a very strong outing as he allowed two runs over seven innings while allowing only three hits and striking out six. He would get the loss, though, as the Pirates offense would only muster a single run against Estrada (A seventh inning RBI double by Neil Walker) as he gave up one on four hits while striking out eight The Brewer bullpen would then throw 1-hit ball the rest of the way to close things out. Final Score: Brewers 2, Pirates 1.
— Saturday night would be a different story for the Bucco offense as they launched four homers in their second victory of the year in Milwaukee.
Jeff Locke continued his stellar start to the 2013 season as he allowed no runs on three hits while striking out seven for the victory. Homers by Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, and Pedro Alvarez (2 on the night) lifted the Pirates over Mike Fiers and the Brewers. The Pirate pen would allow two homers to Carlos Gomez but it wouldn’t be enough. Final Score: Pirates 5, Brewers 2.
— Sunday would show the same result as the Pirates pulled off the elusive series victory in the “House of Horrors”.
The Bucs would jump out to a four run lead in the third off of Yovani Gallardo after RBI’s by Jordy Mercer, Garrett Jones, and Pedro Alvarez (2 RBI). The Brewers would fight back in the fifth to chase starter, Wandy Rodriguez (Win) when Ryan Braun knocked in three with a double to make it a 4 – 3 game. The Pirates would get the winning run in the sixth when Michael McKenry scored off of a Starling Marte sac fly. The Brewers would get a run in the eighth, but Jason Grilli would shut things down in the ninth for his ML-Leading 20th save. Final Score: Pirates 5, Brewers 4.
— Monday started a 4-game, 2-city series with the Detroit Tigers in Detroit which matched Francisco Liriano against Justin Verlander.
Not many were expecting the Pirates to score many off of Verlander, but they were able to get three off of him over seven innings even though they struck out thirteen times against the former Cy Young winner. Liriano didn’t have the same outcome as he allowed four runs over five innings. Jose Contreras allowed two more runs in the seventh which proved to be vital as the Pirates would score twice in the eighth and have the tying run at second with one out. That’s the closest they would get, though, as they were unable to score. Final Score: Tigers 6, Pirates 5.
The Pirates will look to even up the series tonight at 7:05 before bringing the series back to PNC on Wednesday and Thursday.
(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
