(Photo Credit: Gene J. Puskar / AP)
Jeff Locke couldn’t get off to a good start and the Reds took advantage as they chased him after five runs in one inning as the Reds cruised to a 10- 3 victory on the final home date of the season for the Pirates.
Locke got Billy Hamilton to ground out to lead off the game, but allowed a single, two walks, a double and a homer to put the Pirates in an early hole that they could not dig themselves out of.
“Everything happened pretty fast,” said Locke. “I think as a starting pitcher, you try to avoid the big innings as much as you always can. Unfortunately, the big inning came in the first inning. The long-ball hurts you, especially the bases loaded double in the gap is going to hurt.”
Jeanmar Gomez came out for the second inning and had just as bad an outing as he allowed three straight hits and two runs before calming down and ending the inning. Brandon Cumpton and Stolmy Pimentel would throw five scoreless before Vin Mazzaro allowed three runs in 2/3 of an inning and a single one by Jared Hughes in the ninth.
The Pirate offense had a chance to make it a game after receiving lead-off solo homers by Neil Walker in the third and a Travis Snider rally-starting pinch-hit homer in the fifth. Tabata followed by getting hit and Walker followed him with a double. Marlon Byrd hit a sac fly, but Walker would be stranded at third to keep the score at 7 – 3 at the time. They would have one base runner the rest of the game.
In a respectable gesture, Clint Hurdle sent Andrew McCutchen out to warm up for the top of the ninth before removing him from the game to a standing ovation. Hurdle also had some words for Cutch as he walked into the dugout.
“Well done, my good and faithful servant,” the manager told the MVP candidate.
Final Score: Reds 10, Pirates 3.
The home portion of the Pirates season has concluded as 2,256,862 fans came to the ballpark over 80 dates, which is second in club history (2001, first year of PNC Park).
“I do think, with the passing three years, that we continue to build this fan base,” said Hurdle. “You got a whole new generation of Pirate fans growing up. We’ve been able to corral and bring back some of the older ones. It’s a team they know they can be proud of. It’s a team that represents the city. You get knocked down, you get back up, you play hard everyday. You want to finish what you start, you pass the baton, you respect the game, you fear nothing and you show up for one another and our city shows up for one another. Our fan base has definitely shown up for us this year.”
The Pirates will finish up the regular season on the road with three in Chicago before closing out the season in Cincinnati in what looks to be a 3-game set to determine home field for the wild card game.
