After five games on the road, the Pirates entered today still seeking their first road victory. After being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, one-hit by Matt Cain and being victim of a walk-off error, the Pirates needed something to go their way. Led by a Garrett Jones home run and another terrific pitching performance by Kevin Correia, the Pirates were able to avoid the sweep by the Giants by winning the finale 4-1 on the 65th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball.
Jones led off the top of the second inning with a bang, literally, as he took Giants’ pitcher Ryan Vogelsong deep to give the Pirates the early lead. An RBI single by Alex Presley would extend the lead to two runs. After the Giants answered with a run of their own, the Pirates stormed back with two insurance runs in the top of the eighth, both via the bunt. After back-to-back singles by Andrew McCutchen and Casey McGehee, Neil Walker caught the Giants defense flat footed as he put down a perfect bunt down the third-base side. Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval committed his second error in as many games, allowing McCutchen to score and McGehee to advance to third. Following Walker’s at bat, the Pirates continued to play small ball as they executed one of the most exciting plays in baseball, the suicide squeeze. The successful bunt from “J-Hay” Josh Harrison, put the final tally on the board.
Despite walking two hitters in the ninth inning and going to a full-count with two others, Joel Hanrahan was able to close the book and earn his first save of the season.
Correia pitched another game and is making his case to stay in the rotation when A.J. Burnett is activated from the disabled list. Correia threw 91 pitches over six innings, allowing just one run and three hits, while striking out two. The win pushes Correia’s record to 1-0 on the young season.
While all of the players wore number 42 in honor of Robinson, Pedro Alvarez was still able to stick out. Alvarez went 0-3 on the day with two strikeouts. On the season, Alvarez is now 1-19 with 12 strikeouts, with his one hit being a home run.
The Pirates will head to Arizona for the final leg of their nine-game west coast trip to take on the Diamondbacks. The first game of the three-game set is scheduled for a 9:40 first pitch. The probable pitchers for the contest are Erik Bedard (0-2, 2.25 ERA) for the Pirates (3-6) and Joe Saunders (0-0, 0.00 ERA) for the Diamondbacks 6-3).
Photo credit: Associated Press
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