For five innings, the Pittsburgh Pirates (10-18) were well on their way to a much-needed road win and series/doubleheader split with the Baltimore Orioles (14-12). And then, as it seems is the only way for this struggling club as of late, it all went awry.
Brandon Cumpton was cruising and had a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, but the Orioles bats awoke and chased the young spot starter. JJ Hardy’s RBI single off reliever Bryan Morris tied the game and earned Cumpton a no-decision, but the Pirates would bounce right back in the seventh on a go-ahead RBI single by Starling Marte. But alas, Nick Markakis homered to knot the score at 5-5, his second of the doubleheader.
It took extra innings before Matt Wieters would hit a walk-off solo home run on the second pitch of the bottom of the tenth off Stolmy Pimentel (2-1), as the Orioles won 6-5, sending the Pirates home late, damp and surely frustrated as they now sit tied for last place in the NL Central with the 9-17 Chicago Cubs.
Cumpton (0-1) allowed four earned runs in 5.2 innings, allowing seven hits but no walks. He struck out four. Morris allowed one run in 1.1 innings and Tony Watson and Justin Wilson threw scoreless frames before Pimentel allowed the big blow in the tenth.
Offensively, the Pirates managed five runs but still failed at times to capitalize greater on opportunities. Also, after the early 4-0 lead, there was little happening on the basepaths for Pittsburgh in this one. In the first inning, off starter Chris Tillman, two runs crossed the plate on walks with the bases loaded, but there were no hits with all those runners in scoring position. Gaby Sanchez tripled home Andrew McCutchen in the fifth and Ike Davis scored Clint Barmes on a single in the sixth.
The game, which was scheduled to start a half hour after Game One of the doubleheader, was delayed for 46 minutes at the start by rain. Wieters ended it just before 1:00 a.m., making for a very long night as the team now travels back to Pittsburgh to host the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend. Gerrit Cole (2-2) will take the mound while Brandon Morrow (1-2) pitches for the visiting Blue Jays in another interleague series. Pittsburgh, having gone 15-5 in interleague play last year, is off to an 0-2 start in 2014. On the road, the Pirates are just 4-10, so coming home to PNC Park is probably very welcomed.
