Jeff Locke looked solid as he threw seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball as the Pirates dropped their playoff magic number to 9 with a 3 – 1 victory over the Cubs on Thursday night.
Locke retired the first six batters before allowing a lead-off single by Darnell McDonald to start the third. He moved to third on a groundout and scored when Starlin Castro hit a two-out two-strike pitch from Locke into left to make it 1 – 0 Cubs. He would encounter a bit of trouble in the fourth when he allowed a two-out single and walk, but Justin Morneau would bail him out with an over-the-shoulder catch on a blooper to end the inning. Locke would then retire the final batters he faced while recording a strikeout. He finished with five on the night. “I just went after those guys and I still got into some counts that you don’t really want to be in, but they’re an aggressive team, they want to swing and that kinda bailed me out a little bit at times and I had some great defense behind me.”
Locke was efficient with his pitches, but benefited from some nice defense behind him as well as Jordy Mercer and Andrew McCutchen recorded web gem plays in the field. “When you’re throwing strikes and working quick, you’re going to have every opportunity to maximize your defense,” said manager, Clint Hurdle. “Your defense is in the game, there’s a good flow, there’s a good rhythm and you were able to see that tonight.”
The Pirates would finally break into the hit column in the fourth when Jordy Mercer hit a one-out single. He moved to third on an Andrew McCutchen single, but would get thrown out at home on a contact play by Justin Morneau for the second out. That play wouldn’t kill the inning, though, as Marlon Byrd and Pedro Alvarez would both hit RBI singles to give the Pirates the lead.
They would add on to the lead in the eighth. Clint Barmes hit a two-out single and scored one batter later on a Mercer RBI double. “I wasn’t trying to do too much and luckily I put it into the gap and Barmy ran his tail off and scored.” Cutch was intentionally walked and Morneau walked on four pitches to load the bases. Marlon Byrd came up next and struck out to end the inning.
Tony Watson would continue his strong second half by working a quick, 1 – 2 – 3 eighth and Mark Melancon would record his 14th save of the season with a scoreless ninth after allowing first and second with no out.
Final Score: Pirates 3, Cubs 1
Starters Lines
Locke (W, 10 – 5): 7 IN, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K’s. 100 Pitches (61 Strikes)
Rusin (L, 2 – 4): 7 IN, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 K’s, 1 HP. 79 Pitches (56 Strikes)
Game two of the four-game set will be tomorrow at 7:05.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(RHP) Charlie Morton (PIT): 7 – 4, 3.44 ERA
(RHP) Jake Arrieta (CHC): 2 – 2, 4.28 ERA
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(Photo Credit: USATSI)
