PNC Park– Jeff Locke continued his feverish start to the season as he put up zeros through 5 1/3 innings, but Doug Fister was just as good putting up the same over seven while striking out twelve. The Pirates would finally breakthrough against the Tiger bullpen in the 11th to give them a 1 – 0 victory on Thursday.
The two starters cruised through the first three innings while giving up a combined two baserunners in the process. Fister would experience trouble in the 4th as he allowed three straight base-hits to start the inning, but none would cross the plate. Neil Walker started with a single, but would be thrown out on a stolen base attempt. Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones would then single and be stranded.
Locke would experience the same in the 5th inning. He would allow four straight singles to start the inning, but would not allow a run as Travis Snider threw out Matt Tuiasosopo on a Avisail single. After a Doug Fister single to load the bases, Omar Infante would chop one to third basemen, Brandon Inge, who made a jumping play to get the ball and throw out Brayan Pena on a force at home.
Locke would then get Andy Dirks to ground to second to end the threat. “It’s as big as big as anything happened, tonight.” Said manager, Clint Hurdle. “You know, four ground balls and they all found room and we were able to get an out at the plate. I think he (Locke) pushed all of his chips in in that inning…He pitched exceptionally well, tonight.”
The Tigers would have one other scoring chance in regular frames in the sixth. They would have first and second with one out chasing Locke from the game. Vin Mazzaro would come in to strike out Tuiasosopo and get Pena to groundout to end the inning.
From there, the bullpens would shut it down as the game headed into extras where the Pirates would finally strike in the 11th. Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen, and Gaby Sanchez would get singles setting up bases-loaded and no outs for Russell Martin.
Martin would then send a drive deep into the North Side Notch to win it for the Battlin’ Bucs. It will go down in the books as a 400 ft walk-off single, but it’s all Martin needed; “I’ll take it. I probably should have gotten it done earlier in the game, I had a situation with a guy on third base, less than one out, but what can you do. It’s still nice to get a walk-off and get a win against a tough team like that. I’m not going to complain at all. Final Score: Pirates 1, Tigers 0.
The Buccos will be back in action tomorrow night for a 3-game set against the Reds. First pitch is set for 7:05.
Starters Lines:
Locke (ND): 5 1/3 IN, 0 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K’s. 96 Pitches (53 Strikes)
Fister (ND): 7 IN, 0 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 12 K’s, 1 HP. 116 Pitches (73 Strikes)
Tomorrow’s Starters:
(LHP) Wandy Rodriguez (PIT) 6 – 2, 3.58 ERA
(RHP) Johnny Cueto (CIN) 2 – 0, 2.76 ERA
(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
