Jeff Locke and A.J. Burnett gave the crowd of 33,403 at PNC Park exactly what they wanted. A pitchers duel as Locke and the Pirates bested his mentor and the Phillies 6-2 on Sunday afternoon.
Locke was stellar once again allowing two runs (one earned) over eight innings allowing only three hits. The Phillies (37-51) got on the board in the first with two out. Jimmy Rollins reached and advanced to second on a Pedro Alvarez throwing error into the stands. Marlon Byrd followed with a RBI single.
The Pirates (47-41) immediately answered against A.J. Burnett — making his first start in Pittsburgh since he was a Pirates — when they put two up in the bottom of the first. After Burnett struck the first two batters he faced out, Andrew McCutchen beat out an infield single. Neil Walker then singled and stole second setting up a Russell Martin two strike 2 RBI double.
“I know [Russell’s] two strike commitment has been as stubborn as anybody’s on the club and I do think it’s been contagious with the guys seeing it,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “He’s gotten wider, he’s gotten up on the bat. You look at his on base percentage with the number of times he’s reached base since he’s come back from the DL. Everything he’s doing is of an offensive mind.”
The Pirates added another in the third on a Neil Walker sac fly after Josh Harrison tripled to begin the inning.
From there, both pitchers shut things down as Locke allowed only two baserunners between the second and sixth innings. He would make a mistake in the seventh when Marlon Byrd hit a changeup into the left field bleachers to make the score 3-2. Locke then recovered to retire his final five batters.
“We try to keep the ball down in the zone and let the infielders do their work,” said Locke. “I think really only the pitch to Byrd was one I kept elevated.”
Burnett was as effective after the run in the third retiring 12 of the final 14 batters he faced to keep the game within reach. The Phillies bullpen was unable to keep it that way as they gave up three runs in the eighth. McCutchen, Starling Marte and Jordy Mercer provided the 3 RBI to give the pen some breathing room in the ninth.
Jared Hughes worked a scoreless ninth to finish things off and complete the first Pirates sweep of the season.
“It was a lot of fun today,” said Locke. “It didn’t feel like me and A.J. were even playing a Major League baseball game. We spoke really briefly before we got in the bullpen and just told each other to have fun today, go get them and pound down. He did a great job and I threw the ball well so, I guess that’s all you could ask for.”
Final Score: Pirates 6, Phillies 2
Starters Lines
Locke (W, 2-1): 8 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K’s, 1 HR. 100 Pitches (70 Strikes).
Burnett (L, 5-8): 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K’s. 100 Pitches (69 Strikes).
The Pirates will begin a pivotal seven game road trip against the Cardinals (4 games) and Reds (3 games) starting tomorrow night.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
