The Pittsburgh Pirates gave A.J. Burnett the most run support he had all season on Thursday night and it was enough to give him his first win of the season. The Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds by a 7-2 score.
Burnett [1-1] was the difference maker in the game for the Pirates on both sides of the ball. Burnett pitched seven innings, allowing seven hits, two runs, two walks and four strikeouts on 85 pitches, 52 of which were strikes. Burnett is now second in the National League with a 1.66 ERA.
In the contest, all eight position players were able to reach base. Burnett called the offense the stopper of the game and both Andrew McCutchen and manager Clint Hurdle expressed their satisfaction.
“We’re capable of putting those runs up and we have the team to do it,” McCutchen said.
“I thought we did a number of things we talked about doing with some consistency,” Hurdle said. “We made DeSclafani pitch and take advantage of things. We managed the batter’s box much better tonight at the end of the day, I can’t put it any simpler than that.”
On the other side, Burnett just missed a home run in the second inning, something he joked about with media following the game.
“Maybe 10 years ago,” Burnett said.
Burnett’s other at-bats were a successful sacrifice bunt on the first pitch of his fourth inning plate appearance and a nine pitch ground out in the sixth. Burnett also earned his 2,400th career strikeout in this game. It was his first regular season win since Sept. 27.
For the first time since Apr. 26, the Pirates scored in the first inning. Gregory Polanco led off with a double and, on an 0-1 pitch, Neil Walker notched his 10th RBI — his first of the month — on a single.
The Reds countered with a single run in the fourth. Burnett had just faced Joey Votto, which resulted in a ground ball. The very next pitch quickly departed the field into the seats in left field. The home run was Todd Frazier’s 10th of the season. The Reds would get two more runners on base however both were stranded.
A two-run fifth inning allowed the Pirates to retake the lead. Walker singled and Andrew McCutchen doubled to left. McCutchen’s average increased by 22 points in this game and now he is hitting .210 on the season.
“He swung the ball better and there was some definite improvement and progress made,” said Hurdle.
The inning continued with a Starling Marte sacrifice fly scored one run and Pedro Alvarez followed with a double off the glove of a leaping Billy Hamilton. Marte and Alvarez each made their plays with two strikes in the count. This was the last inning for Anthony DeSclafani [2-3].
Marlon Byrd tripled and scored on a Votto ground out to cut the deficit to one. The Reds had a chance in the top half of the seventh inning to score with runners on first and third base with one out however pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker struck out.
“You’ve got to lock in at certain times of the game and I was able to right there,” said Schumaker.
Hamilton ended the threat when he grounded into a fielder’s choice that bounced off Alvarez’s glove but straight into Walker’s who threw onto Mercer for the fielder’s choice.
The Pirates created separation with a three run seventh inning. The first three Pirates in the inning reached base. Walker walked and reached base in four of his five plate appearances. McCutchen singled and Marte had an RBI single. Two batters later, Josh Harrison walked while Chris Stewart hit his second single of the game, this one scoring two runs.
An additional run was added in the ninth inning. Polanco walked and stole second base his ninth of the season. McCutchen batted him in with a single, his first RBI of May.
Jared Hughes pitched and recorded the first out of the eighth inning and Tony Watson was called on to get the final two outs.
Mark Melancon made his first appearance since Sunday and started a double play to record his first two outs of the inning. He then retired pinch-hitter Devin Mesoraco to end the game.
Friday marks the beginning of a three game series with the St. Louis Cardinals. In the series opener Francisco Liriano [1-1 1.95 ERA] will take on Michael Wacha [4-0 1.93 ERA]. Liriano is 4-1 with a 1.86 ERA in nine career starts against the Cardinals. Wacha has a 1-0 record in two career starts against the Pirates.
Photo credit: Gene Puskar/AP Photo
