On a night where he earned the Heart and Hustle award, Josh Harrison continued his breakout season. He supported Edinson Volquez's pitching gem with three great defensive plays at third base. The big blow came on a triple in the bottom of the eighth that knotted the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds at one. It was the kind of night by a year-long star that makes one think Harrison could be developing into something truly special.
Harrison still managed to take some of the spotlight away from superb pitching performances. Mike Leake held the Pirates scoreless through seven. He struck out only one but did not walk a batter. Leake scattered six hits.
Volquez had a no hitter going through six innings. Devin Mesoraco broke it up in the top of the seventh with a single that beat the shift. Volquez worked out of a couple jams including the sixth inning when Billy Hamilton's speed put him on third base after a walk with just one out. That inning ended when Harrison snared a low line drive. Harrison also had a diving stop for a double play where he slapped the base and his throw to first was picked nicely by Ike Davis.
A Mesoraco single put the Reds in front in the top of the eighth, but the Pirates would rally in the next half inning. Andrew Lambo, who was called up today, started the inning with a hot shot off of Todd Frazier's glove. Harrison followed by slamming a triple off the right field wall. Despite watching it out of the box for a moment he was able to leg out three bags with a friendly kick past Jay Bruce. Harrison scored the winning run when Jose Tabata hit a chopper through a drawn-in infield.
Harrison will be back at third base tomorrow afternoon when these two teams meet again. He finished a home run shy of the cycle and moved his average back up to .308. Pirates' fans are loving his production this season, but games like this make you believe it could last for years to come.