Gerrit Cole followed Charlie Morton’s lead by going eight strong innings on Wednesday afternoon following Morton’s eight strong last night. Cole also recorded the teams first starting pitching win in 20 days as the Pirates (14-20) defeated the Giants (21-13) 4-3 to take the three-game set.
Cole didn’t get off to the start he wanted when Brandon Belt took a belt-high fastball into the right-centerfield seats with two outs in the first. He wouldn’t be trailing long as the Pirates struck back in the bottom of the first.
Travis Snider started it off with a walk and moved to second on a Neil Walker groundout. Andrew McCutchen then scored Snider with a single to right . Starling Marte gave the Bucs the lead two batters later with a double down the left field line.
The Pirates would get two more on Giants starter Tim Lincecum in the second. Chris Stewart singled with one out and was followed by a Gerrit Cole single. Snider then hit a 2 RBI single to right to extend the lead to 4-1. It was yet another good performance from a Pirate lead-off hitter as Snider went 2-for-3 with a walk, triple, run scored and 2 RBI.
“I hit in that spot earlier in my career for a month, month and a half and understanding the pace of the game situations where if the guy is not throwing you a strike, you’re not going to swing,” said Snider. “You try to not put too much emphasis on being a lead-off hitter and more about getting a pitch to hit . If he’s not giving you a pitch to hit, let the guys behind you do the work.”
The Giants tried to answer in the fourth with second and third and one out, but Cole got the next two batters to fly out to end the threat. He wouldn’t be as lucky in the fifth as the Giants had first and second with two out. Hunter Pence then hit a 2 RBI double to right. He tried to advance to third on the throw home, but was thrown out.
That would be the final chance the Giants had as Cole got stronger over his final three innings of work allowing one run and striking out three in that time.
“I think you saw us click on all cylinders,” said Cole. “We just stayed with our approach and tried to see what they were doing at the plate and I executed as many pitches as I can. A few of them got away from us and they did some damage, but we were able to minimize and not let them score more than us.”
Mark Melancon worked the ninth and worked a perfect ninth, something he was unable to do two nights ago.
“The last two series, we’re doing things we are capable of doing,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “Cole pitched a very effective game. Clipped for two late in the fifth and after that, three solid with a very strong finish. We made defensive plays, we pitched well and we found a way to score one more run than them. That’s how we like doing it.”
Final Score: Pirates 4, Giants 3.
Starters Lines
Cole (W, 3-2): 8 IN, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K’s, 1 HR. 107 Pitches (68 Strikes).
Lincecum (L, 2-2) : 4 IN, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K’s, 1 WP. 88 Pitches (62 Strikes).
The Pirates will have a day off tomorrow before starting a three-game set with St. Louis on Friday night at PNC Park.
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(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
