The Pittsburgh Pirates won its first game of a six-day road trip with a 10-7 victory against the Kansas City Royals.
It was the Royals that struck first in the first inning when Eric Hosmer singled in Alcides Escobar. Hosmer was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a double.
A four-run second inning served as the Pirates response. Both Pedro Alvarez and Francisco Cervelli each singled in runs placing the Pirates in the lead. Travis Ishikawa then drove the ball to left field for a double which drove both Alvarez and Cervelli in. Manager Clint Hurdle had a discussion with the umpires about the potential of fan interference, however, the play stood and Ishikawa was awarded a double.
Andrew McCutchen added an additional run towards the Pirates cause with his 25th double of the season. This scored Gregory Polanco.
The Royals used some trickery in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jarrod Dyson who reached first by a single got caught in a rundown, however Alex Rios attempted to steal home and beat the tag making the score 5-2 in favor of the Pirates.
Ishikawa’s opposite field hitting continued in the fifth inning with his first home run of the season, a two-run homer. Ishikawa’s last regular season home run came Sept. 12 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jung Ho Kang also scored on the play.
“I was just trying to keep everything simple,” Ishikawa said to Root Sports following the game. “Just doing some stuff in the cages got me ready today and I got some good results.”
Kendrys Morales offered a response in the bottom half of the inning hitting his 12th home run of the season which also was a two-run homer and plated Hosmer.
Alvarez added a second RBI on his night in the seventh inning to score Starling Marte. The Royals responded once again in the bottom half of the inning as Mike Moustakas hit his ninth home run.
After Lorenzo Cain singled following the home run, Hurdle lifted A.J. Burnett [8-3] after six-plus innings of work.
Antonio Bastardo entered the game and Hosmer greeted him with an RBI triple which was followed by a Morales RBI ground out. Jared Hughes then replaced Bastardo and after a Salvador Perez single, got Omar Infante to ground into a double play.
Ishikawa doubled to open the eighth inning, however was unable to reach third base as Sean Rodriguez grounded into a fielder’s choice. Polanco then singled and Rodriguez advanced to third base. Neil Walker then tripled both runners home and in doing so gave the Pirates a cushion they would not relinquish.
Tony Watson pitched the eighth inning and stranded two base runners.
Mark Melancon allowed a leadoff walk to Hosmer however escaped any potential danger as Morales grounded into a double play. Perez struck out to end the game which allowed Melancon to pick up his league-leading 30th save of the season and also the 100th of his career.
Yordano Ventura suffered the loss in this game for the Royals and is now 4-7 on the season.
Tuesday, Gerrit Cole [13-3 2.30 ERA] will face Jason Vargas [5-2 4.10 ERA]. Vargas is returning from the disabled list to make this start. Cole has never faced the Royals but is 7-1 with a 2.86 ERA in 10 career Interleague starts.
Of note: Francisco Cervelli was removed from the game in the seventh inning due to discomfort in his right wrist.
Photo courtesy: Ed Zurga/Getty Images
