PNC Park – In a matchup of two All-Star starting pitchers. Bartolo Colon bested Jeff Locke over seven inning as the Oakland Athletics defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 2 – 1 on Monday night.
Locke had a down night, if you can believe that, as he wasn’t as crisp with his fastball leading to three walks and three hits. He wouldn’t let that get to him, though, as he had a one hitter going through six innings. Bad thing was, that one base runner scored. Jed Lowrie, who collected two of the A’s three hits, hit a one out double off of the Clemente wall.
The A’s shortstop would take third on a wild pitch, but appeared to be out as Russell Martin found the ball quickly and gunned it down to Pedro Alvarez at third. Alvarez applied a quick swipe tag too early avoiding Lowrie’s leg allowing him to get third safely. He would then score on a Josh Donaldson sac fly to make it 1 – 0.
Locke would get into trouble in the seventh when he loaded the bases with two out. Locke would then get ahead of Derek Norris, but Norris would fight off a few pitches and work a walk which brought in the winning run. He would strike out Grant Green, who was 0-for-3 with 2 K’s in his major league debut, to keep the flood gates shut and the Pirates in the game.
“That’s one of the better right-handed hitting teams we’ve seen this season and I thought he kept them in check,” said manager, Clint Hurdle. “Eleven guys retired in three pitches or less. He just continues to educate himself about what he is capable of when he’s focused and continues to make pitches and change speeds.”
The Pirates had their chances against 40 year old Bartolo Colon (who was hitting 95 on the gun as late as the seventh) as they tallied seven hits against the righty. They would total five runners in scoring position and only cash in on one. That one run was by Clint Barmes, who knocked a one out double off of the left field wall in the seventh.
Barmes would advance to third on a Travis Snider pinch-hit single and score on a Jose Tabata RBI infield hit. Andrew McCutchen would then come up and hit a strike out to left-center where Coco Crisp was with a spectacular diving catch to rob Cutch of extra bases and keep the Pirates from taking the lead. “I knew it was caught when I hit it,” said Cutch. “I thought if I could catch that ball, Coco could as well.”
They would have two runners on with one out in the eighth against reliever, Ryan Cook, but it would go nowhere as pinch-hitter Gaby Sanchez popped out to second and Clint Barmes hit a frozen rope straight at left-fielder Yoenis Cespedes for the final out.
Final Score: Athletics 2, Pirates 1
Starters Lines:
Locke (L, 8 – 2): 7 IN, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K’s, 1 WP. 96 Pitches (56 Strikes)
Colon (W, 12 – 3): 7 IN, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K’s. 108 Pitches (78 Strikes)
Game 2 of the 3-game set is tomorrow at 7:05.
Tomorrow’s Starters:
(RHP) Gerrit Cole (4 – 1, 3.94 ERA) (PIT)
(RHP) Dan Straily (5 – 2, 4.52 ERA) (OAK)
Follow Travis for Pirates news and in-game updates on Twitter @TBerardi_OVA or @ovathletics
(Photo Credit: Keith Srakocic)
