Game 45: Pirates 5 Marlins 1

Honestly, it feels like someone just flipped a light switch on Federal Street after the Twins series. Last Wednesday, the Pirates were a bland, under-achieving, boring baseball team that couldn’t find a way to win a game against the Twins at home. They’ve made a full turn of the rotation since then, going 5-0 and out-scoring the Mets and Marlins 30-7.

This game turned in the Pirates’ favor quickly; Neil Walker hit a two-run homer in the second inning to give the Bucs a 4-0 lead, and that was enough for Jeff Locke and the bullpen. Locke was not great; he threw 104 pitches in 5 2/3 and walked four hitters in that span, but he kept the Marlins off the scoreboard, which was plenty. Besides Walker’s homer, Josh Harrison had two hits, drove in a run, and scored twice. Jung-ho Kang also had two hits, and he drove in the Bucs’ first run.

This five-game winning streak matches the Pirates’ longest streak of any kind from last year. They’ll have a chance to extend it soon; Wednesday’s game is a getaway afternoon game at 12:35.

Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

About Pat Lackey

In 2005, I started a WHYGAVS instead of working on organic chemistry homework. Many years later, I've written about baseball and the Pirates for a number of sites all across the internet, but WHYGAVS is still my home. I still haven't finished that O-Chem homework, though.

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