The Pittsburgh Pirates ended a seven-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers. The last time the Pirates won before last night’s game was June 10.
“We got the monkey off our back, now but it’s two teams that know each other very well now,” Jordy Mercer said. “It’s the beauty of this game, anybody can beat anyone on any given day regardless of their record.”
Chris Stewart came away with three RBI, his highest total since Aug. 20, 2013 when he also had three RBI.
“He pays attention – he works on the hit and run,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “He works on hitting through that four-hole like he did like last night. He stays within his skill set very well. He doesn’t stray from it very often.”
In tonight’s contest, Jeff Locke will face Zach Davies.
Locke is 4-4 with a 3.97 ERA in 11 career starts and is also 2-2 with a 3.96 ERA in four starts this season. He lost his last start Sept. 7 against the Cincinnati Reds allowing three runs [one earned] in five innings of work.
Davies has two starts under his belt and the first was against the Pirates. He allowed four runs on four hits in 4.1 innings. Davies won his last start which was a road game against the Miami Marlins. In that contest, he allowed one run in seven innings and induced 15 groundball outs.
Seventh inning stretch: Jordy Mercer is starting to regain some strength from his left knee MCL sprain.
“I think it’s getting better each and every day,” Mercer said. “I still don’t think it’s fully where I want it to be but I’m good enough. I want to do whatever it takes to help this team win.”
Hurdle has remained loyal to Mercer, specifically because of his defensive capabilities, however the offense is holding up well as well.
“To come out of the shoot and throw those up there – that definitely helped,” said Hurdle. “You talk about battle at-bats. You talk about the ability to get in the box and do something good. For the team in both of those sequences there – that’s 16 pitches. That’s an inning that you are taking from the pitcher. One guy is taking an inning away.”
Bottom of the ninth: The Pirates announced that Gerrit Cole will start game one of the team’s Tuesday doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs and J.A. Happ gets the nod for the nightcap.
This arrangement means that there will be six starting pitcher for the Pirates. This arrangement will be short term as Hurdle offered a quick “no” when asked if the Pirates would go to a six-man rotation, something the New York Mets have tried to execute on two separate occasions this season.
Hurdle seemed to have a plan in place but would not reveal what it was.
The Pirates manager also was very complimentary of Stewart following his actions in yesterday’s game.
“It’s good to have him on our club,” Hurdle said. “He helps all over the place. He’s always watching, and he’s up in between innings talking to the catcher. He’s turned himself into a very professional major league player.”
He said it: “He kept the game in place. He has shown the ability to be so resilient, so solid, and so effective against good hitters. We needed a stop right there and he gave it to us.” – Hurdle on Tony Watson’s job in the eighth inning of last night’s game.
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
