Andrew Cashner was nearly unhittable for seven innings. A night after driving in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eight, Gregory Polanco did it again in a 5-2 Pittsburgh Pirates victory over the San Diego Padres.
With the win, the Pirates earned their first sweep of the Padres since April 12-14, 1994.
“Cashner was tough and we weren’t getting a lot of good pitches to hit,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We took it professional and didn’t take it personal and we kept showing up and batting.”
When Charlie Morton’s was removed from the game after six innings, the Pirates had more errors [2] than hits [1]. Both errors were because of pick off attempts that Pedro Alvarez was unable to field.
Similar to Tuesday’s game, the Padres scored the first two runs of the game, this time plating one in both the first and second innings.
Matt Kemp hit a solo home run in the first inning on a 1-2 count and an inning later Melvin Upton Jr, a late addition to the Padres lineup doubled to center field to score Will Venable who reached base because of a walk.
The Pirates responded in the bottom half of the second. Jung Ho Kang’s 10th double of the season was the first hit of the night for the team. He then scored on a Pedro Alvarez sacrifice fly.
In the seventh inning, another double, Neil Walker’s 21 of the season, resulted in the second Pirates run of the game. Francisco Cervelli brought Walker home with an RBI force out that was deep in the hole. Alexi Amarista threw out McCutchen at second base.
Polanco’s second big eight-inning hit in as many nights scored pinch-hitter Travis Ishikawa, who had walked. The ball hit off the Clemente Wall in right field and Ishikawa slid safely home reacting with a clap and fist pump. The play was ruled a single, with Polanco advancing to second on the throw.
Andrew Cashner [3-10] was then taken out of the game after 7.2 innings and 102 pitches. He was replaced by Brandon Maurer.
Polanco then advanced to third base on a wild pitch. McCutchen singled him home, bringing his hitting streak to 15 games. Kang then got in the hitting act with an RBI single. Four consecutive Pirates reached base in the inning.
“Players were getting on base and that’s what was changing in the eighth inning,” Kang said through interpreter H.K. Kim about what changed in the eighth inning. “We were just gaining momentum from there.”
Antonio Bastardo pitched the ninth inning and earned his 12th career save, his first save since July 9, 2013. Mark Melancon, Tony Watson and Jared Hughes were all not available for the Pirates tonight leaving Bastardo, Arquimedes Caminero and Vance Worley as the ninth inning options.
“He’s done it before and he has some experience doing it,” said Hurdle. “This is a guy that sprays the ball a bit. The stuff is swing and miss when he’s on, so give him the ball let him go and see what he can do.”
Deolis Guerra [2-0] picked up the win after pitching two scoreless innings.
“He shows up and gives us a different look out there,” Hurdle said. “Tonight those two innings were really nice to get from him.”
The Pirates will conclude the first half of the season with a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Jeff Locke [5-4 4.15 ERA] will face Carlos Martinez [9-3 2.70 ERA]. Locke is 2-2 with a 3.82 ERA in six career starts against the Cardinals.
Of note: Both Josh Harrison and Jameson Taillon had surgery on Wednesday. Harrison has a torn UCL and is expected to recover in seven weeks and Taillon has an inguinal hernia and is expected to recover in eight weeks.
Photo credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
