Philadelphia Phillies outlast Pittsburgh Pirates
April 19, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Russell Martin (55) throws to first base to retire an Atlanta Braves batter during the eighth inning at PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates won 6-0. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Pirates were unable to capitalize on Philadelphia Phillies starter Jonathan Pettibone’s debut and were unable to come away with the win.
In the 3-2 Pirates loss, Pettibone, who’s ERA was just south of 10 in AAA, struck out six hitters and allowed six hit in nearly six innings.
The Pirates struck first when Pedro Alvarez his his third home run of the season. The change up was thrown and left the park in a hurry just staying fair in the second inning.
A.J. Burnett got the start for the Pirates and labored quite a bit including a 35 pitch fourth inning.
In the third inning, Burnett’s wild pitch scored his mound opponent Pettibone. An additional run scored in the fourth when Burnett was battling Jimmy Rollins only to nail him with a pitch to put the Phillies in the lead.
Burnett’s strikeout pitch was effective as he got seven punch outs, however the pitch count was higher than normal and after five innings he was done throwing 101 pitches.
The Pirates tied the game in the top of the fifth when Russell Martin hit his second homer of the season.
Jared Hughes took over in the sixth inning and labored to a 24 pitch inning. With two guys on base it was Rollins at the plate again coming through with a single to put the Phillies back on top.
Vin Mazzaro put together two innings of one hit relief while Raul Valdez, Antonio Bastardo and Mike Adams turned in 2.2 innings of one hit relief for the Phillies.
That set the stage for Jonathan Papelbon to close the game. After getting Andrew McCutchen to pop out, Garrett Jones doubled and was replaced by Alex Presley on the base paths, for speed purposes. Still after a Neil Walker fly out, Alvarez could not deliver an encore and struck out looking. It was the fourth save of the season for Papelbon, while Hughes suffered his second loss of the season.
Tomorrow night Jeff Locke (1-1 5.17) gets the ball for the Pirates and he will face Cole Hamels (0-2 6.46) in a left-handed pitching battle. Game time is scheduled for 7:05.