(Photo Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PNC Park – A.J. Burnett pitched his best game of the season (so far) as he went the distance in a Pirates 5 – 1 victory on Sunday afternoon. His battery mate, Russell Martin, provided most of the offense with a three run homer in the fifth inning to break things open.
“They threw me a lot of breaking balls today and talking to Jay (Bell), the guy throws a lot of sliders so I decided to wait for one and he threw the first pitch right where I liked it and I took a good swing.”
The Bucs got enough offense against Rockies starter, Juan Nicasio before the Martin homer. Starling Marte led the game off with a double, advanced to third on a Neil Walker fly out and scored on an Andrew McCutchen single to make it 1 – 0.
They would make it 2 – 0 in the third when they loaded the bases in the third. With Cutch at second and Walker at third, Martin hit a chopper to third basemen, DJ LeMahieu, who would step on third before throwing home. Walker, seeing the play unfold, made it half way home before smartly retreating back to third base. He would score one batter later on a Garrett Jones sac fly.
“I believe that he (Walker) made a very astute base running play,” said manager, Clint Hurdle. “Obviously, he’s got to see the play, he’s got to see the third basemen step on the bag and I believe he did and once the force out is there, it’s a vacant base so, extremely good base running, smart awareness by him to keep the inning alive.”
Martin’s three run shot in the fifth would come on the first pitch from reliever, Manny Corpas after Nacasio gave up a walk to Cutch and a single by Pedro Alvarez.
Burnett, on the other hand, experienced little trouble in the complete game effort. He would allow two batters to reach base in the fifth with two out before getting a groundout to end the inning. The only run against him came in the seventh when Michael Cuddyer led the inning off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He would score on a Jonathan Herrera RBI single. It only took Burnett 110 pitches to get the job done in an efficiently-pitched game.
“I actually felt good for nine innings, you know,” said Burnett. “I think strike one was huge today, I got ahead of a lot of hitters (26 of 33 first-pitch strikes) and I knew the pitch-count was low half-way through and like I said before, you take pride in finishing what you started. Those guys in the pen, they deserved a break. It’s good to get another W for the squad.”
Final Score: Pirates 5, Rockies 1
Starters Lines:
Burnett (W, 5 – 7): CG, 8 H, 1 R, 1ER, 1 BB, 9 K’s. 110 Pitches (83 Strikes)
Nicasio (L, 6 – 7): 4 1/3 IN, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K’s. 103 Pitches (63 Strikes)
The Pirates will have an off-day tomorrow before taking on the Marlins for three in Pittsburgh.
Follow Travis for Pirates news and in-game updates on Twitter @TBerardi_OVA or @Theyinzer
