PNC Park – The Pirates gave Gerrit Cole an early lead, but Philadelphia roared back in a big way in the sixth to take the 4th of July rubber match 6 – 4.
Cole, in his first game that he did not record a victory, got some help early as catcher, Russell Martin threw out two base runners in the first inning. From there, Cole would settle down as he allowed a single run through five innings while only throwing 69 pitches.
The trouble would come in the sixth after Cole got Jimmy Rollins to strike out. Home plate umpire, Chris Conroy, squeezed Cole into a walk. He would then allow a single to Domonic Brown ending his outing as Clint Hurdle would go to the pen and Vin Mazzaro to try to stop the bleeding.
That would not work as Mazzaro would allow three straight singles to give the Phillies the 4 – 2 lead. He would proceed to hit Cole Hamels before being removed for Tony Watson. Watson would allow one of Mazzaro’s runners to score before stopping the bleeding at 5 – 2.
They would tack another run in the eighth off of Ryan Reid which would prove to be big as the Pirates finally showed some life in the bottom. Pinch-hitter, Jordy Mercer would lead the inning off with a single and Starling Marte would follow with the same. Garret Jones would then knock a pinch-hit single into center to make it 6 – 3. Cutch would follow by grounding into a double play allowing Marte to score. It gave the Pirates another run, but it killed the rally as they were unable to get any two out lightning going.
Jonathan Papelbon would allow a one out hit in the ninth but it would not amount to anything as he would get the next two Pirate hitters to end it.
Final Score: Phillies 6, Pirates 4.
Starters Lines:
Cole (L, 4 – 1): 5 1/3 IN, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K’s. 78 Pitches (53 Strikes)
Hamels (W, 3 – 11): 7 IN, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 8 K’s. 103 Pitches (76 Strikes)
The Buccos will take to the road for a quick 3-game road trip to Chicago to take on the Cubs starting tomorrow at 4:05.
Tomorrow’s Starters:
(LHP) Fransisco Liriano (PIT): 7 – 3, 2.23 ERA
(RHP) Jeff Samardzija (CHC) 5 – 7, 3.34 ERA
Follow Travis for Pirates news and in-game updates on Twitter @TBerardi_OVA or @ovathletics
(Photo Credit: AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
