North Shore Nine

The Pittsburgh Pirates won the homestand opener to the San Francisco Giants with a final of 7-6, in dramatic fashion. Martin Perez was not sharp, nor was he helped by a horrendous error that cost two runs in the top of the 1st. The Pirates had to do a lot of work in the bottom of the 9th and in the 10th to pull off the dramatic victory.

Martin Perez took the mound for the Pirates in the first game of the series against the San Francisco Giants. The Giants put men on first and third with one out, Perez got a strikeout to get to two outs. Then a easy fly-out to left field should have ended the threat and the top of the inning. However, Oneil Cruz called off Jack Suwinski on the ball and promptly let it bounce of the heel of his glove scoring two runs. Perez managed to get a ground out to end the frame but the damage had been done. Pirates went relatively quietly in the 1st only managing a hardest hit of the year single by Cruz. In the second the Pirates managed 1st and 3rd with no outs on singles by Nick Gonzales and Jack Suwinski.

In the top of the 5th the Giants earned a walk. Which was followed by a Thario Estrada 2-run home run giving the Giants a 4-1 lead. They then managed to load the bases however Luis Oritz was able to keep it to 4-1. In the bottom of the frame the Pirates managed to get a run back. Ji-Hwan Bae walked, stole second then moved to third on a Andrew McCutchen single. He then scored on a Bryan Reynolds fielders choice. Ortiz cmae back out and pitched a clean inning to bring the game to the bottom of the 6th. Where the Pirates failed to cut further into the lead.

In the top of the 7th Matt Chapman hit a solo shot off of Oritz to extend the Giants lead 5-2. Pirates once again went 1-2-3 in their end of the frame bringing the game into the 8th. Kyle Nicolas came on for the Pirates in the top of the 8th. A single and a walk to start his outing put two men on with no outs. A wild pitch put them at 2nd and 3rd. A strikeout gave some hope, but a weak ground out scored one pushing the score to 6-2 with two outs. A fly out to Suwinski in left field ended the frame but the game slipped further out of the Pirates grasp. A leadoff single for McCutchen breathed a breath of life into the park. However, a Reynolds ground out, a Cruz pop out and a Joe groundout ended the 8th. Carmen Mlodzinski came in to pitch the 9th, going 1-2-3 in his inning of work. In the bottom of the 9th Nick Gonzales smoked a ball to 3rd that ended as a groundout. A Suwinski walk and a Yasmani Grandal double put men on 2nd and 3rd with one out, causing San Fran to bring on their closer. Who then walked Jared Triolo to load the bases. Bae then hit a sharp single making it a 6-3 game keeping the bases loaded and bring up McCutchen. A slow chopper to SS appeared to be the game ender, however a bobble scored a run and brough Bryan Reynolds to the plate. A fielders choice made it 6-5, bring Cruz to the plate with 2 outs. He promptly smoked a double into the RF corner, tying the game and breaking his record for hardest hit ball of the year he had set in the 1st. Connor Joe then looked at two balls middle low in the strike zone and swung at one in on his ankles to end the threat.
In the 10th David Bednar came in to pitch for the Pirates. A groundout started the 10th for Bednar. He was then able to get the strikeout and a fly out to strand the free runner at 3rd. Nick Gonzales then came out in the bottom of the 10th and hit a first pitch single to walk it off and give the Pirates the win.

Pirates are back in action tomorrow against the Giants at PNC Park at 6:40 PM. Jared Jones will take the mound for the Pirates against Ian Snell.