The crowd was excellent yet again on Wednesday night at PNC Park for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The place was about 75% full and the crowd was very into the game from the beginning, as was a certain Pittsburgh Pirate who helped to flip the script on the D-Backs Wednesday night. Both Monday and Tuesday started out with the Diamondbacks receiving some early offense against the Pirates. Monday the Pirates did not end up responding and lost 4-1, but Tuesday the Pirates did. Though they blew a two-run lead in the ninth, they were victorious in fifteen innings.
Wednesday, it was the Pirates turn to score early and keep the D-Backs off the board.
All J.A. Happ did to help the Pirates cause on Wednesday was go out and toss six scoreless innings of two-hit baseball, by far his best outing since joining the Pirates via trade. Happ is helping to fill a void left by A.J. Burnett and so far he has done about all you could ask of him. He is not a great pitcher by any stretch of the imagination but he is a major leaguer and he will flash some brilliance like he did Wednesday night at PNC Park.
His offense backed him quickly, scoring three runs in the second inning to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Michael Morse struck out swinging but shortstop Jung Ho Kang would score on the play thanks to a wild pitch by Arizona starter Robbie Ray to give the Pirates the 1-0 edge. Sean Rodriguez would then single in catcher Francisco Cervelli to put the Pirates up 2-0 on the Diamondbacks. Later on in the inning, Pirates' rightfielder Gregory Polanco would double into the left centerfield gap and score pitcher J.A. Happ to put the Pirates up 3-0.
The Pirates would later tack on their fourth and final run of the game, this one coming in the eighth inning. Pedro Alvarez was pinch-hitting with the bases loaded and was able to draw a walk that brought home Starling Marte to put Pittsburgh at a 4-0 advantage.
The Pirates turned the ball over to reliever Joakim Soria, who pitched the seventh inning and worked very well. Soria struck out two and did not allow a base runner in the only inning that he worked. Tony Watson was up next to pitch in the eighth inning and he did just as good of a job as Soria. While Watson did not strike out a batter, he pitched a perfect eighth and earned his 30th hold of the season.
The Pirates would have originally called upon Mark Melancon to pitch the ninth but with a four run lead there was no chance for a save. That is until Antonio Bastardo allowed two quick base runners before it was Paul Goldschmidt's turn to bat. Clint Hurdle quickly yanked Bastardo in favor of Melancon because now it was a save opportunity. Melancon gave up a base hit that allowed the D-Backs to cut the lead to 4-1 and the run would be charged to Bastardo.
However, Wednesday night would not welcome another D-Backs comeback as Melancon would strike out three batters after that hit and closed things out to earn his 38th save of the year.
ANALYSIS:
Overall, the Pirates played a much better game Wednesday than they had all series. They were good Tuesday, but some bad fundamental baseball enabled the Diamondbacks to make a comeback and tie the Pirates. Luckily for them it did not end up costing them a win. Wednesday the Pirates were much smoother, as they did not commit an error and their pitchers combined to give up just one run on four hits. J.A. Happ has had two strong outings in a row and so far he has done about as much as anyone could ask of him with A.J. Burnett on the shelf for now. The offense of the Pirates was not tremendous, but it did what it needed to do and helped to back Happ's solid performance.
BIG PICTURE:
The Pirates were hoping that the San Francisco Giants, who come to town starting on Thursday for a four-game set, would provide them with some help and beat the St. Louis Cardinals as they had done the night prior. The Cardinals and Giants traded blows and the Giants did find a way to tie the game at two and eventually take the lead but the St. Louis Cardinals were able to yet again find a way to win. However, the Pirates victory helps them keep pace with the Cardinals and there is still over 40 games left to be played and a lot to still be decided. Detroit was able to outslug the Cubs, 15-8, giving Pittsburgh even more cushion in the standings on Chicago.
