The Pirates had another late inning rally. This time they held on for the win by getting three ninth inning runs off Francisco Cordero.
Through eight innings Pittsburgh was limited to just four singles by Johnny Cueto and the Cincinnati bullpen. Pirate runners didn’t advance past second base against Cueto.
The Reds didn’t fare much better against Brian Burres. He also went seven and surrendered just four hits. Unfortunately, two of them were doubles that came back-to-back to start the fourth inning from Orlando Cabrera and Joey Votto. Those two hits put the Reds up 1-0.
It was a different story in the ninth inning. Francisco Cordero was on to close it out. John Bowker coaxed a walk. Ryan Doumit singled to center. Lastings Milledge bunted into a fielder’s choice with Bowker being eliminated at third. Garrett Jones hit a pinch hit single with pinch runner Pedro Ciriaco being held at third. Jose Tabata hit into a fielder’s choice with Votto throwing home to get Ciriaco. Up came Andrew McCutchen. Cordero had him 0-2, but Cutch drilled a liner into the corner in left and emptied the bases.
The Reds ninth was almost as exciting. Joel Hanrahan loaded the bases before whiffing Chris Heisey to end the game.
Chan Ho Park pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Hanrahan got the save. Cordero’s poor outing cost Cueto a win.
The Good
Another comeback.
Park got his first win as a Buc.
Neil Walker singled in the first to continue his hitting streak.
I’ll take that from Burres three times a month.
The Bad
I got nothing.
The Rest
Burres was 0-1 in two previous appearances against the Reds. This was his second career start. Cueto came into the game with a 9-2 mark against the Pirates. He has not beaten any other team more than three times.
This was the second time this year Burres went seven innings. He tossed seven shutout innings against the Cubs on 5/6/10.
This was the first time in 2010 that McCutchen drove in more than two runs.
Votto is tied for the NL lead in RBI with 102.
