Charlie Morton did his best Francisco Liriano as the righty fanned 6 batters while working around some jams but, the bullpen was unable to hold the lead and it took 16 innings for the Pirates to finally break through for a 4-3 victory in the longest game ever played in Pittsburgh at 5 hrs, 55 min (Prev. record was 5 hr 49 min vs. Houston on May, 27, 2006).
Morton struck five betters out through the first three innings and retired six-straight batters before two errors by Jordy Mercer and Pedro Alvarez got him into some trouble with one out in the fifth. He would then get Emilio Bonifacio — Batting over .800 prior to the at bat — to fly out to Andrew McCutchen and Luis Valbuena to strikeout to end the inning.
“Charlie was really good,” said manager, Clint Hurdle. “Good sinker, good breaking ball, good command. I was just hoping to watch him pitch a couple more innings.”
Morton would work a scoreless sixth before being removed for Tony Watson. He left Due to a thumb injury sustained when a Nate Schierholtz line drive glanced off of his thumb in his glove. (X-Rays showed no fractures and he had no bandages or casts on post-game). Watson would walk the lead off batter before proceeding to strike the next three batters on nine-straight pitches.
The Pirates would only record two hits against Cubs starter, Edwin Jackson, but it would be enough as they worked across two runs. Neil Walker would reach via a one out single in the second, advance to second on a Travis Ishikawa walk and score on a Jordy Mercer RBI single. They would take advantage of a Starlin Castro error as he allowed a Russell Martin grounder to roll under his glove allowing Starling Marte to score to make it 2-0.
The Cubs would finally get on the board for the first time this season in the eighth when Mark Melancon allowed singles by Bonifacio and Valbuena to lead-off the inning. Castro would advance the runners on a groundout and Anthony Rizzo would be hit-by-pitch — second time on the night — to load the bases.
Nate Schierholtz would then ground into what looked like an inning-ending double play, but Cubs manager Rick Renteria challenged the play saying Mercer did not touch second on the relay. After a review of 2 min, 20 seconds the crew in New York City ruled Mercer off the bag and only one out recorded to make it a 2-1 game. Melancon would get a groundout to end the bleeding.
The Cubs however, would tie the game with two outs in the ninth when Junior Lake singled with one out and Bonifacio recorded his second straight 4-hit game with two out. Valbuena followed with an RBI single to tie the game at 2 and force extras.
The Cubs would take the lead in the twelfth on a Anthony Rizzo lead-off homer and former Pirate, Jose Veras would not get the job done however, as he allowed the Pirates to tie things up with two out. Marte singled to left on a full-count pitch to score pinch-runner, Clint Barmes to tie it at 3.
Both teams would be in a stalemate until Tony Sanchez finally sent everyone home happy in the 16th with a single to left, sending home Jose Tabata for the victory.
“I was thinking,” said Sanchez. “Everyone was going to hear the walk-out music for the first time (“Let it go” from the Disney movie “Frozen”) and I’m set up to win the game for us. There’s no better situation to get the job done then now. Thank God I did.”
Stolmy Pimentel earned his first career ML win with 4 innings of relief.
“You gotta love the work we were able to do off of the mound with the limited offensive attack, said Hurdle. “The mound work we did, stranding people on base which was fantastic, so it was a group effort. At the end of the day, we got everybody but Morris and Volquez in the game. Good one to win. We’ll figure out the pitching for tomorrow.”
Final Score: Pirates 4, Cubs 3
Starter’s Lines
Morton (ND): 6 IN, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K’s, 1 HP. 84 Pitches (56 Strikes)
Jackson (ND): 5 1/3 IN, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K’s, 1 HP. 94 Pitches (57 Strikes).
The Pirates will look for the opening series sweep tomorrow afternoon (later today) at 12:35.
Today’s Starters
(LHP) Wandy Rodriguez (PIT): 6-4, 3.59 ERA in 2013
(RHP) Jason Hammel (CHI): 7-8, 4.79 ERA in 2013
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(Photo Credit: Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
