Fans at Comerica Park were treated to a hit parade as the Pittsburgh Pirates put together 15 hits on Detroit Tigers starter Alfredo Simon and had 21 on the night in a 9-3 victory.
This was the first 21-hit game for the Pirates since May 13, 2004, a road game against the Colorado Rockies.
The 15 hits off Simon [7-5] are the most off a single pitcher for the Pirates since Apr. 17, 1974. The 15 hits also are the most given up by a Tigers starter since Scott Sanders gave up 16 in 1998.
“We were able to manage at-bats from top to bottom,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “Everybody went up, worked at bats and battled. We did a nice job of making them pitch.”
Though the Tigers struck first on a Nick Castellanos RBI single, the Pirates had a five-run third inning to take the lead. The Pirates had seven hits in the inning which is the most since Sept. 14 against the Cubs.
Josh Harrison led off the inning with a double and Neil Walker hit his fifth home run of the season. Walker entered play with a .329 batting average in the month of July.
“I tend to play better late in the year and I’m working to get myself in a position to get my swing off more consistently and that’s something I haven’t done the first part of the season,” said Walker. “That’s something I will make a very considerate effort in all my work and something I have been doing a better job of as of late.”
This inning continued as Francisco Cervelli’s RBI ground out scored Andrew McCutchen. Gregory Polanco then added an RBI single and Jordy Mercer’s single and an error on Jose Iglesias scored the final run.
In the sixth inning, Walker singled however, he was hit by the throw and was examined by trainer Todd Tomczyk. Walker remained in the game and stole second base. He scored on a wild pitch, sliding awkwardly, but safely into home plate. This closed the book on Simon.
The Tigers scored another run in the sixth inning when Victor Martinez scored on a Yoenis Cespedes ground out.
A.J. Burnett [7-3] got the win, pitching seven innings and allowing the two runs on seven hits while throwing 100 pitches, 71 of which were strikes.
Burnett faced 28 batters and threw first-pitch strikes to 24 of them.
“Pitching ahead, I think that was the key tonight,” Burnett said. “I was able to hit that down and away two-seamer at will. It was a good pitch and to be ahead of those guys is big.”
Joba Chamberlain allowed home runs to Walker [his sixth], Starling Marte [his 13th tying a career high] and Pedro Alvarez [his 11th]. The Marte and Alvarez homers were back-to-back, accomplishing the feat for the first time this season and since September 7, 2014.
The Walker homer served as his third career multi-homer game of his career and first since Apr. 14, 2014.
James McCann hit his fourth home run of the season off Arquimedes Caminero to open the bottom of the ninth inning and close the scoring on the evening.
With the victory, the Pirates secured a series win, its 13th of the season and second in a row.
This series concludes Thursday afternoon when Francisco Liriano [4-6 3.21 ERA] takes on Kyle Ryan [1-1 4.56 ERA]. Liriano is 5-10 with a 5.59 ERA in 26 games [19 starts] against the Tigers.
Photo credit: Leon Halip/Getty Images
