I’ll be the first to admit it. When I found out the Pirates had the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, I was gung-ho on the Pirates selecting Anthony Rendon from Rice. A year after taking Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie, I didn’t feel they needed to take a pitcher. I watched Gerrit Cole play, but I just though the organization was lacking a bat in the minor leagues. While the latter part stands true, I’m starting to own up to my mistake. On Tuesday night, the two rookies squared off as Cole’s Pirates bested Rendon’s Nationals 5-1.
Cole showed Pirates fans why he was picked as the top player in the draft as he cruised through seven innings, allowing just two hits and one run. The lone run came off the bat of Wilson Ramos, as he hit his fifth homer of the season.
As for Rendon, he helped the Pirates attack get under way in the second inning. After Pedro Alvarez scored via a Neil Walker groundout to push the score to 1-0, Rendon dropped an easy throw from Ryan Zimmerman, allowing Russell Martin to score. With the Pirates up 2-0, Cole took a ball to left field (one of his two hits compared to 0 for Rendon) to score Walker and push the score to 3-0.
As impressive as Cole was, Nationals rookie pitcher, Taylor Jordan, was equally impressive. Second inning aside, Jordan kept the Pirates offense at bay through seven innings. In the eighth, Jordan was sent back out to the mound and was met by Pedro Alvarez. Alvarez powered a ball to left field, pushing the Pirates lead to 4-1 on his 25th home run of the season. For insurance purposes, Gaby Sanchez had a pinch-hit double to score Martin in the eighth.
The Pirates have guaranteed at least a series split with the Nationals and will send arguably their best pitcher of the year, Francisco Liriano (9-4, 2.44 ERA) to the hill to face Stephen Strasburg (5-7, 2.97 ERA) in game three tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
