This feels like a recurring pattern lately: the Pirates play poorly early on, keep the game from getting out of hand, right the ship, and then chip away until they find themselves ahead late in the game. Tonight’s particulars:
Charlie Morton looked awful in the first two innings, but somehow escaped the top of the second with just a 2-0 deficit after the Padres left a runner at second in the first and runners on the corner in the second. He was perfect in the third, though, and only allowed two hits after the second inning, thus keeping the Padres at two runs. The Pirates chipped away with a Jung Ho Kang hustle double in the second. He advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a Pedro Alvarez sac fly. The Pirates didn’t score again until the seventh, when Neil Walker double and similarly moved around the bases via a couple of outs. They rallied in eighth for the second straight night on a big Gregory Polanco hit. This time he crushed a ball off of the top of the Clemente Wall that scored Travis Ishikawa from first after Ishikawa drew a two-out pinch-hit walk. Walker drew a walk, then Andrew McCutchen and Kang hit back-t0-back singles to drive in Polanco and Walker, giving the Pirates their nice 5-2 margin of victory.
The bullpen also deserves some praise here: Deolis Guerra threw two perfect innings to earn his second big league win, and Antonio Bastardo closed things out in the ninth. Somehow, a game that started with Charlie Morton throwing batting practice turned into a relatively smooth 5-2 win in which the Pirates didn’t have to use any of their best relievers. When things are going right, they’re really going right.
Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
