I had the game on my computer while I got some work done in lab this afternoon, but left lab around the sixth inning for a required trip to the Verizon Store (insert foreboding musical cue here). When I closed my computer down, the Bucs were losing 1-0, but heard that they’d moved ahead 2-1 on the radio. When I got to the Verizon Store, I used one of their demo smartphones on the floor to see how the Pirates scored (an Andrew McCutchen triple! How did he not have one before now?!) keep tabs on the game. Once I left the store, I gave my parents a quick call and found out the game was tied and heading into the tenth. I got home, rushed into my apartment, turned the computer on, and saw Ryan Doumit at the plate with two outs in the bottom of the tenth. He promptly homered for the walk-off win.
Beyond my story of 21st century odyssey to stay informed of how this game was going, there were a lot of things like like. Zach Duke made his second straight strong start, holding the Braves to one run in seven innings and striking out five. In his last five starts, he’s struck out five or more hitters four times. Aki Iwamura added two hits for his first multi-hit game since April 28th. Doumit had three hits, including the big homer, and Andrew McCutchen had two hits and a triple.
Sweep averted. Time for maybe the most important road trip of the season.
