Wrigley Field – On a day that saw four Pirates get selected to the All-Star Game, the Buccos offense was less than stellar.
Two Alfonso Soriano home runs off Charlie Morton and a quality start from Cubs’ starter Edwin Jackson vaulted Chicago over Pittsburgh 4-1. The Pirates offense could only muster one extra base hit, a Pedro Alvarez home run, and their only run of the contest.
The Pirates seemed to have something going in the first inning after a Marte single, steal, and Jackson wild pitch put the leadoff man on third with one out. But back-to-back groundouts by Andrew McCutchen and Garret Jones quelled any scoring threat.
Pittsburgh did manage to strike first off the Alvarez homer with two out in the top of the 4th. But the lead would not survive the inning.
Antony Rizzo doubled to lead off the bottom of the inning. Soriano followed that up with a home run to center to give the Cubs a lead they would not relinquish. Prior, Morton had cruised through the first three innings of the game, allowing just one hit.
Soriano repeated his act in the bottom of the 5th after Julio Borbon drew a walk to start the inning. It was his 11th and 12th dingers of the season.
Asked about the homers after the game, Morton responded, “If I can keep the ball in the park, I can keep the team in the game.”
Manager Clint Hurdle added, “We got the ball in two bad spots. We got the ball in two spots we didn’t want to by any means. We missed the location twice. If he gets two pitches back, I don’t know where we are.”
The Buccos would only collect two more hits the rest of the way. Their best chance came in the 6th with two on but James Russell got Pedro Alvarez to strike out swinging to end the inning. Chicago’s bullpen allowed only one baserunner in 3 1/3 innings of work. Edwin Jackson went 5 2/3, giving up just four hits and one earned.
For the Pirates, Morton went six innings, allowed four runs, walking three, and striking out six on 99 pitches. Justin Wilson and Bryan Morris combined to allow one hit in two innings of relief.
Before the game, it was announced to the team Pedro Alvarez, Andrew McCutchen, Jason Grilli, and Jeff Locke were selected to the 2013 All-Star Game.
In his post game press conference, it was clear Hurdle was elated of the news.
“I’m proud of all four. They’re organizational wins. Two of them are home-grown. We’re watching them blossom at this level. Andrew is as excited as anybody. Pedro visibly excited. The vibe in here was really cool.”
“We’ve been getting better. This is the third year we’ve had multiple guys go. That hasn’t happened in a long time. We’ve earned our way. These players have earned their way. It’s an organizational win.”
Pittsburgh will try and take the final game of the series tomorrow afternoon at 2:20 ET. AJ Burnett (4-6, 3.12 ERA) is expected to make his first start since coming off the disabled list with a calf injury. He’ll square off against Carlos Villanueva (2-4, 3.45 ERA).
NOTES: The Pirates are one game ahead of St. Louis in the NL Central following the Cardinals’ walk-off victory against the Marlins….The Pirates’ four All-Stars are the most since 1981…It’s the third straight year the Pirates have had multiple All-Stars, the first time that’s occurred since the Pirates had six consecutive seasons spanning from 1988-1993…Brandon Inge replaced Neil Walker who left the game with “right side discomfort” according to Hurdle, calling the second baseman “day to day”.
Photo Credit: Flickr.com/Sports Crazy
