After a lengthy, yet successful, first game of the double-dip, the Pirates were looking for their first sweep of a doubleheader since 9/30/2009 at Chicago and their first at home since 8/28/2007 against the Cincinnati Reds. Despite having five players in the lineup that spent part of this year in Indianapolis, the Pirates extended their half-game lead over the Cardinals in the N.L. Central with a 6-0 win in game two.
“I was pleased with the effort today, off the mound especially,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. “All of the position players were able to throw something in and we pitched efficiently.”
While the Pirates were secretive about who the game two pitcher would be, Hurdle essentially decided on going with Brandon Cumpton instead of Stolmy Pimentel. Prior to the games, Hurdle said that Cumpton’s experience at the Major League gave him the nod.
After an 11-inning game to start off the day, the Pirates were counting on Cumpton to give them some innings. It’s safe to say he did that and more.
“He was able to push it through the sixth inning, which is something he hasn’t been able to do in the past,” Hurdle said. “His overall command was the best that we’ve seen since he’s been up.”
Cumpton allowed just three hits over seven shutout innings, while striking out five Cardinal batters for his first big league win.
“It’s indescribable. A lot of credit to the defense tonight,” Cumpton said. “My defense made plays behind me. I was really just attacking the fastball and pitch in tonight.”
The Pirates offense struggled to score two runs in the first game, but runs came rather easy for the Bucs in game two. In the second inning, Yadier Molina allowed just his second passed ball of the season, allowing Jose Tabata to score from third. Essentially, that would’ve been the only run needed for the Pirates against Tyler Lyons, but the Pirates added some insurance runs for safety.
In the sixth inning, Jordy Mercer singled in Starling Marte after his wall-scraping triple to push the lead to 2-0. Not satisfied with the result, Andrew McCutchen does what he does best and hit a two-run home run off the glove of Matt Holliday to push the lead to 4-0.
“The [offense] definitely helped,” Cumpton said. “I still stayed aggressive, but I felt like I had a little bit of maneuver room.”
On a side note, today was Hurdle’s 56th birthday. Couldn’t ask for a better gift could you, skipper?
“You really couldn’t. You take the birthday and put it to the side. I’ve had a few of them and I’ve been on the field for most of them,” Hurdle said.
Cumpton said he didn’t know it was the skipper’s birthday, but was happy he could give him a nice gift.
“I actually didn’t know it was his birthday until after I was done,” Cumpton said with a smile. “He said great job, but nothing about a birthday.”
The Pirates would add a couple of runs of the bat of both Sanchez’s (Gaby and Tony respectively) in the seventh inning for a 6-0 lead.
After taking the first three games of the series, the Pirates will look to continued its success tomorrow as they send All-Star Jeff Locke (9-3, 2.15 ERA) to the mound to take on fellow All-Star Adam Wainwright (13-6, 2.51 ERA) for the fourth game in the series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
