North Shore Nine

The Pirates defeated the White Sox 4-1 tonight, improving to 46-48 on the season. The game saw some Pirates pitchers return from injury, as Marco Gonzales and David Bednar were each played after being activated today from the IL. Gonzales provided 5 innings of 1 run ball, throwing just 60 pitches. Bednar closed the game, gathering his 17th save of the season with a scoreless inning. Carmen Mlodzinski and Colin Holderman also pitched, combining for 3 scoreless innings.

For the White Sox, Garrett Crochet started the game and looked dominant. However, he threw just 2 innings. Right-hander Jonathan Cannon relieved him, as Chicago looks to manage Crochet’s workload in a lost season. Despite deploying a righty-heavy lineup to combat Crochet, the Pirates were able to score 4 runs off Cannon in his 6 innings.

After falling behind 1-0 early, the Pirates took the lead in the 5th. Jared Triolo tied the game with an RBI single, shortly followed by a go-ahead sacrifice fly by Michael A. Taylor. In the 6th inning, Nick Gonzales and Ke’Bryan Hayes provided insuance. Gonzales hit a gap-shot double to score Connor Joe, then was driven in by a Hayes single.

The Pirates will battle the White Sox again tomorrow at 2:10 ET. Luis Ortiz will start, looking to continue building on a strong season to date. The White Sox have yet to announce their starter. If the Pirates sweep this series, they would head to the All-Star break at .500, placing them in the thick of the NL playoff hunt. With Mitch Keller facing Chris Flexen on Sunday, a sweep should be within reach against the 27-69 South Siders.