Josh Harrison and Gregory Polanco provided the offense and Vance Worley went through the sixth inning for the eighth time in nine starts as the Pirates held off the Padres 2-1 on Friday night in front of a sell out crowd at PNC Park.
Harrison and Polanco provided the only offense the Pirates (62-53) needed on the night in the first inning when Harrison tripled to lead off the inning. Polanco quickly followed with a RBI single, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Padres catcher Rene Rivera. He later scored on an Ike Davis sac fly.
“We were just looking for balls to handle in the zone,” said Harrison. “We faced him in San Diego and had a game plan going into the game and with a guy that throws strikes like he does, you want to get on him early. We got to him early and got some pitches that we were able to handle. “”
It was all the offense Worley needed as he closed the door on the Padres scoring after scratching one across in the first. Evereth Cabrera led the game off with a double down the left field line and later scored on two sacrifices. They again threatened in the second with runners on first and second with no out, but Worley induced a 5-4-3 DP and a fly out to left to end the inning.
The Padres (52-62) looked to tie things up and possibly take the lead in the sixth when they loaded the bases with no out, but once again, Worley worked out of it getting a 5-2-3 DP off of cleanup hitter Jedd Gyorko and another fly out to left to preserve the lead.
“I went after him,” said Worley. “I knew what I needed, which was a groundball and if I went fastball, it was either going to be a sinker or in that way he would just roll over on it or a cutter which he wasn’t making an adjustment on and I think we went to it three times today and it ended up working for us.”
Tony Watson worked a perfect eighth and Mark Melancon (Save #21) slammed the door in the ninth striking out the side to end it.
Final Score: Pirates 2, Padres 1.
— Josh Harrison sustained an injury to his left hand and had his ankle rolled while sliding into second on a stolen base attempt in the fifth inning. He would remain in the game and start the pivotal 5-2-3 double play to keep the lead in the sixth.
“I’ve been better, but I’m cool,” said Harrison. “I didn’t have to come out. Towards the last inning or so [the ankle] stiffened up as the adrenaline went down a little bit, but it’s alright.”
— The Pirates have won 19 consecutive games when scoring in the first inning.
Starters Lines
Worley (W, 5-1): 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K’s. 92 Pitches (63 Strikes).
Kennedy (L, 8-10): 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K’s. 107 Pitches (65 Strikes).
The Pirates will look to lock up their first series victory ever against the Padres at PNC Park tomorrow evening.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(LHP) Francisco Liriano (PIT): 3-7, 3.91 ERA
(LHP) Eric Stults (SD): 4-13, 4.94 ERA
First pitch is set for 7:05.
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(Photo Credit:Getty Images)
