43.5 F
Pittsburgh

Game 82: Bucs Rally Past Phillies

Published:

The Pirates bunched all their hits together and used a six run seventh inning to propel themselves past the aching Phillies.

The Pirates struck first, reaching Joe Blanton for two runs in the first on a Garrett Jones RBI grounder and an RBI knock from Pedro Alvarez. Philadelphia answered quickly with a run in the second and three more runs on five hits in the third. Dane Sardinha homered leading off the seventh inning, giving Philly a 5-2 lead and chasing Bucs starter Jeff Karstens from the contest. All-Star pitcher Evan Meek relieved and prevented any more damage.

The Pirates came back immediately off of Joe Blanton. The Pirates had not collected a hit since the first inning. But Alvarez led off with a solo homer. Ryan Doumit and Ryan Church both reached via hit before Ronny Cedeno whiffed. Delwyn Young pinch hit for Meek and Jose Contreras was summoned to replace Blanton. Young popped a two run double that tied the game. Jose Tabata followed with an RBI single and the Pirates were up 6-5. But the fun wasn’t over. After Neil Walker was walked, both runners moved up on a grounder from Andrew McCutchen. With two outs, Jones delivered a game busting two run single. Alvarez ended the inning with a whiff.

Joel Hanrahan and Octavio Dotel followed with perfect innings to end the game. Blanton got a no decision. He went 6-1/3 and gave up five runs on six hits. He walked none and whiffed seven. Contreras was the loser, getting just one out and allowing three runs. Karstens also got a no decision. He also gave up five runs in six plus innings. He walked none and struck out two. Meek was the winner. Dotel got the save.

The Good
Taking 2 of 3 from Philly and winning two straight series.

The offense making a rare appearance.

Nine up, nine down for the bullpen.

The Bad
Nothing. Basking.

The Rest
Blanton was 1-0 against Pittsburgh coming into the game. This was Karstens first start against the Phillies. He made two other relief appearances.

Last time the Pirates scored more than six runs was May 14 against the Wriglies. This was the team’s fourth highest run total of the year.

Jones hadn’t knocked in three runs in a game in almost two months (5/6/10 against the Cubs).

Related Articles

Article Drop

Latest Articles