Starling Marte went 1-4 with a steal but it wasn’t enough as the Marlins blanked the Pirates (Flickr.com/Sports Crazy)
Got any runs? Go Fish.
The Pittsburgh Pirates managed only five hits in a 2-0 shutout loss to the hands of the Miami Marlins.
Henderson Alvarez was superb, pitching six innings of two hit ball, striking out five to record his first Major League victory.
Jeff Locke, though shaky with his control, held the Marlins in check through five innings. It appeared Miami was going to get on the board early on an Alvarez double to left center. But Starling Marte made a strong throw to the cutoff man Neil Walker who gunned it to Russell Martin, tagging out catcher Jeff Mathis at the plate.
Miami finally broke threw in the sixth. Locke walked two and allowed a single to load the bases with one out. Placido Polanco came on to pinch hit for Alvarez and drilled a ground ball up the middle to put the first run of the game on the board. The Pirates’ starter limited the damage, however, forcing a line and groundout out to end the inning.
The Marlins added another run in the seventh. Giancarlo Stanton belted his 12th home run to left field, a solo shot that put Miami up 2-0. Locke’s day ended two batters later, going 6 2/3, allowing two earned on eight hits. He walked a season high six batters.
“At the same time, though, I was nibbling a little bit too much, almost like you don’t want to catch too much of the plate and just kind of like being picky out there , kind of sloppy. But I felt really good. Just the command wasn’t there again tonight,” Locke said after the game.
Gabby Sanchez doubled in the 8th but Travis Snider grounded out and Michael McKenry struck out to end the threat.
Pittsburgh made one last attempt at a comeback in the 9th. After strikeouts from Starling Marte and Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen singled past short. Pedro Alvarez snuck a ground ball between first and second, putting runners on the corners. But Marlins’ closer Steve Cishek got Jose Tabata to ground out to end the game.
The Pirates will try again Saturday at 7:10. Charlie Morton (2-2, 3.35 ERA) will be opposed by Tom Koehler (2-5, 4.38 ERA).
NOTES: The Pirates fall to 60-41 on the season, 2.5 back of St. Louis…Russell Martin suffered a knee injury and left the game in the bottom of the 7th…Pittsburgh is 4-4 since the All-Star break…Jordy Mercer went 1-2, extending his hitting streak to 11 games…Under 19,000 fans attended the game; the Marlins are last in attendance
