Brad Licoln and Brett Myers both pitched well. Houston got a pair off Licoln. The Pirates offense, as it has done far too often this year, failed to amount much of an attack. Myers gave up just one tally.
Trouble for Lincoln began in the second. Carlos Lee led off with a single and then stole second. He moved to third when Brian Bogusevic singled. Jimmy Paredes hit into a force out, scoring Lee. Humberto Quintero doubled with two gone to score Paredes, making it 2-0 Houston.
The Pirates got one run back in the bottom of the second when Ryan Doumit hit a solo blast with two outs.
That was all Pittsburgh would get. A lead off double from Garrett Jones in the fourth was wasted. In the eighth the Pirates chased Myers with two outs after he committed an error on a comebacker from Josh Harrison. Wesley Wright relieved and issued a walk to Alex Presley. But Jones flied out to end it.
Houston tacked on two more in the ninth against Jose Veras. He allowed the first three men to reach. Bogusevic walked. Paredes doubled him to third. Quintero singled them both in.
Myers gave up just the one run and four hits in 7-2/3. He walked no one and struck out six Pirates. Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for the save. Lincoln went six and gave up two runs. He whiffed six and did not give up any walks. He yielded five hits.
The Good
Derrek Lee had another hit. Neil Walker had two hits.
No gripes about Lincoln.
The Bad
The same as always – the offense.
The Rest
Myers was an even 6-6 against Pittsburgh coming into this game. He had 13 prior starts and two relief appearances. After going 3-0 in 2010, Myers was 0-2 prior to tonight.
Lincoln’s prior appearance against Houston came in 2010 and was a five run, five inning effort that resulted in a loss.
Jones’ double was his 30th on the year.
Chris Resop and Doumit combined to make a nice play in the seventh. With Paredes on third, Myers dropped down a bunt. Resop fielded it and in one motion flipped to Doumit. Hevcaught it on a short hop and tagged Paredes.
Quintero had driven in more than two runs only one other time in his career – way back on 7/18/05 also against Pittsburgh in a game started by Dave Williams. Ryan Vogelsong gave up four runs in relief.
