The Pittsburgh Pirates won its seventh consecutive contest Wednesday night after defeating the Chicago White Sox by a 3-2 score. The Pirates now have tied their season high winning streak and are 20-5 in their past 25 games.
Jeff Locke [4-3] came into the contest with a 2.82 ERA in seven career Interleague starts and backed that up allowing two runs on three hits over six innings. Locke also walked two batters while striking out a season high eight. This was his highest total since he struck out nine batters Sept. 8 against the Philadelphia Phillies. Locke threw 99 pitches in his outing, 60 were for strikes.
“I was able to see these guys a couple of times through previous games and we were just on the attack,” Locke told assembled media following the game.
In their victory, the Pirates did all of their damage with a three-run first inning off John Danks [3-7].
Josh Harrison led off the game with a double which was his 16th of the season. Starling Marte bunted him over to third base and then Andrew McCutchen who was the designated hitter for this road contest, singled to left field.
This brought Jung Ho Kang to the plate and he took a first pitch fastball and hit an opposite field home run, his fourth home run of the season. He was hitting .333 against left-handed pitching coming into this game.
“He does a lot of homework and he can hit,” manager Clint Hurdle told assembled media following the game. “He’s playing at a level he’s never played at before where pitchers are hitting spots he’s never seen before. This guy has got great confidence, he works hard and he learns a little bit more every day.”
Locke kept the White Sox off the scoreboard until the sixth inning. He quickly got two outs, however a walk to Adam Eaton was followed by an RBI double from Melky Cabrera. Jose Abreu followed with a walk and after a mound visit, Avisail Garcia singled to bring the second run home. With two runners on, Adam LaRoche grounded out to first base to end the threat.
Aquimedes Caminero and Tony Watson pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings. Mark Melancon did the same in the ninth inning earning his 22nd save of the season which leads all major league closers. This was his 20th consecutive save opportunity converted. Melancon has now passed Jose Mesa for fifth place on the Pirates all-time list and has 71 in his time with the team.
The two game home and home series will conclude tomorrow when Gerrit Cole [10-2 1.71 ERA] faces Jeff Samardzija [4-4 4.84 ERA].
Cole is 5-1 with a 2.84 ERA in seven career Interleague starts. He won an Interleague start, the team’s 5-4 home opener victory against the Detroit Tigers. Cole earned a victory in his last outing which was against the Phillies. He allowed two runs [one earned] in six innings against the Phillies.
Samardzija is no stranger to the Pirates having had 144 at-bats and a 4-4 career record against them. Samardzija, the former Chicago Cub will look to earn a win after getting a no-decision in his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays. Samardzija allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings. McCutchen has found success against Samardzija with 12 hits and a .414 batting average.
The game will be played at 8:10 EDT.
Of note: Francisco Cervelli entered the game having caught 51 consecutive scoreless innings. That streak ended with two outs in the sixth inning making his total 56 [Elias Sports Bureau does not give partial-inning credit in a game in which the pitcher is charged with a run]. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last catcher was a streak as big as Cervelli’s entering the game belongs to Gus Triandos of the Baltimore Orioles. Triandos accomplished his 52.1-inning streak June 23-29 in 1957… Starling Marte left the game after the eighth inning with pain in his left ankle. He first felt discomfort when he hit the first base bag in the seventh inning and possibly re-tweaked it running down a ball in the outfield in the eighth inning. He told reporters after the game that he was okay.
Photo courtesy: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
