Pittsburgh Pirates Fall To The Marlins In Miami
By Larry Snyder
The Pittsburgh Pirates could not create enough offense Tuesday as the Marlins took down the Bucs 5-2 in Miami. The squad from South Beach stole five bases in pilfering a victory from the crew of the Jolly Roger.
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The first star of the game was Miami starter Brad Hand (4-3). The 6-foot-3, 219-pound left-hander permitted just two earned runs on nine hits over a career-high eight innings of work. He struck out five and walked none. The 25-year-old Hand delivered 72 of his 106 pitches for strikes in dueling with 32 hitters.
Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon was certainly the second star as he went 2-for-4 at the plate. The 27-year-old infielder from Windermere, Florida tied a career high with four stolen bases on the night.
The Marlins dealt Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton his second loss against two victories in his last seven games. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-hander surrendered five runs (four earned) on eight hits over five 1/3 innings. He struck out just three but walked no one in clashing with 22 batters. Morton’s record moved to 6-4 against Miami in 12 career starts.
Pittsburgh scored early in the top of the first. With two out, Andrew McCutchen picked up his 31st double of the season on a sharp line drive to center off Hand. Aramis Ramirez singled on a sharp line drive to right to drive in McCutchen.
The Marlins began chipping away at the Pirates lead with two out in the bottom of the fourth. Justin Bour recorded his 13th double of the season off Morton on a sharp ground ball to right. The hit allowed Dee Gordon to cross home plate and tie the game at 1-1.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Dan Jennings’ squad took a 2-1 lead in the next frame. Christian Yelich led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to center. J.T. Realmuto gave Miami fans a reason to cheer as he ripped a single on a sharp ground ball to center to score Yelich.
Miami (51-75) racked up a trio of RBI doubles in the sixth. Martin Prado led the attack with one out with his liner over third base into left that drove in Dee Gordon. Prado scored on Bour’s 14th double of the season on a sharp ground ball to right. That put an end to Morton’s evening. Yelich brought Bour home when he laced his 16th double of the season on a line drive to center off Jared Hughes.
The Pirates rally fell short as they were able to score only one run in the ninth. Ramirez scored when Pedro Alvarez grounded out to Gordon with the bases loaded. A.J. Ramos closed it out to record his 22nd save.
Up Next: The Pirates and Marlins meet mid-week in the third contest of their four-game series. The Marlins will send 33-year-old Chris Narveson (1-0, 3.86 ERA/0.94 WHIP) to the hill. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound left-hander has recorded 12 strikeouts over 11.2 innings pitched.
The Pirates will give the ball to 27-year-old Jeff Locke (6-8, 4.56 ERA/1.44 WHIP). The left-hander has 102 strikeouts over 134.1 innings pitched. They will take the field at 7:10 p.m. You can catch all the balls and strikes on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.
From The Clipboard: The game lasted 2:48, and there were 17,371 in the seats at Marlins Park…The Bucs were 64-60 after 124 games last season…Mark Melancon‘s 40 saves this season ties him for the third-highest single season total in Pirates history. Joel Hanrahan had 40 in 2011. Next on the list are Jose Mesa with 43 in 2004 and Mike Williams with 46 in 2002…Pittsburgh has gone 22-14 since the All-Star Game break…The Pirates disclosed Tuesday afternoon that infielder Pedro Florimon cleared waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
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