With legends Bill Mazeroski and Bill Virdon on hand, the Pittsburgh Pirates started off their home stand against the Minnesota Twins with a bang. Led by an all-around offensive attack, including three hits from both Clint Barmes and Josh Harrison, the Pirates took game one of the series 7-2.
To start the game off with a bang, Josh Harrison hit his second home run of the game to left field. The ball appeared to hit off the wall, then off of Josh Willingham for the opening run of the game.
“I saw the replay,” Harrison said laughing. “I couldn’t see it in live action though. I knew I hit it pretty well, but I thought it was kind of high. When he jumped, I didn’t know if the ball was still in so I kept running. When I saw he didn’t throw it in I assumed it went over.”
The Pirates would put their second run on the board when Casey McGehee hit a sacrifice fly to score Harrison following a double-steal by Harrison and Andrew McCutchen.
“Cutch just kind of looked at me and I had a good jump and went,” Harrison said. “It was all on me. Just had a feel for the game and you pick up on pitcher’s tendencies.”
Leading 5-2, the Pirates would tack on their last two runs on Andrew Mccutchen’s 12th home run of the season, scoring Harrison once again to make the score official at 7-2.
Clint Barmes, who broke the .200 mark for the first time on the season, went 3-4 with two singles and a double.
“It’s just one night, but I was just trying to be consistent with it and not doing too much at the plate,” Barmes said. “I found a way to relax at the plate a little more often and found some barrels that way, so it’s definitely been a lot better than the way I started.”
Pitching for the Pirates was Kevin Correia. Correia went 5.1 IP allowing four hits and no runs for his first win at home in over a year.
“I didn’t really notice,” Correia said about the win at home. “I feel like I’ve thrown a lot better than I did last year at home. I knew once we started to hit, that I’d get wins.”
After leaving the game in the sixth inning with two men on, Tony Watson preserved the clean slate for Correia after a showdown with former Bucco Ryan Doumit as he struck the former catcher out with the bases loaded.
“It’s huge right there,” Correia said. “To have him come in right there and pick me up was huge. We had a small lead at that point and for him to come in there and shut it down, it kind of ensured my win.”
The Pirates will send Erik Bedard (4-7, 4.36 ERA) to the hill tomorrow in game two of the three-game set. Squaring off against Bedard will be Francisco Liriano (1-7, 6.24 ERA). The game is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. ET first pitch.
Photo credits: Getty Images
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