45.5 F
Pittsburgh

Game 158 Recap: Bucs Pile On Early, Hold On Late in Win

Published:

Cincy native Harrison had four hits against the Reds.

The Pirates scored four times in the first three innings agaisnt Travis Wood and then held on to the lead the rest of the way. The attack was balanced as eight different players were involved in the scoring. Brad Lincoln and the bullpen danced out of trouble all game. Cincinnati had the lead off man on base in seven of nine innings, but only went 1-10 with runners in scoring position.

The Reds jumped out early. Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto each doubled to make it 1-0. But Chris Heisey and Jay Bruce were retired, stranding Votto on second. Pittsburgh left Josh Harrison and Andrew McCutchen on in the home half of the first.

The Reds wasted a one out double by Juan Francisco in the second. The Pirates tied it in the second. Ryan Ludwick walked and Jason Jaramillo doubled. Ronny Cedeno’s sac fly evened the score at one.

Phillips doubled leading off the third. He got to third base before the inning ended. The Pirates put up a rally in the bottom of the third to take the lead and knock Wood from the game. Harrison tripled to start it. McCutchen hit a sac fly. Derrek Lee singled and was doubled to third by Neil Walker. Ludwick lofted a sac fly to make it 3-1. With two gone Jaramillo delivered an RBI single that sent Wood packing. Carlos Fisher relieved and got Cedeno to end the threat.

Lincoln faced a tough test in the fifth. He walked Dave Sappelt and Drew Stubbs to put two on with one out and Joey Votto up. Votto doubled in his second run of the night. Lincoln struck out Heisey. He gave a free pass to Bruce to bring up Devin Mesoraco, who flied out for the final out of the inning.

The Pirates wasted their own chance in the fifth. Neil Walker singled and stole second and third, arriving there with one out. But Jaramillo and Cedeno were retired.

After yielding a leadoff double to Francisco in the sixth, Lincoln was pulled for Jared Hughes. He whiffed the next three hitters. Tony Watson pitched a scoreless seventh. Jose Veras allowed the Reds to move one run closer in the eighth. Bruce walked leading off. He moved to second on a wild pitch and would score when Edgar Renteria singled.

Jason Grilli pitched the ninth. He gave up a lead off single to Phillips before getting the next three hitters.

Lincoln went six plus innings and gave up two of Cincinnati’s three runs. He allowed six hits and four walks. He struck out four. Wood gave up four runs in 2-2/3 innings. He gave up seven hits. He walked two and whiffed two. Grilli picked up his first save on the year.

The Good
Harrison missed the cycle by a dinger and had four hits. Walker had three hits. Jaramillo had a pair.

McCutchen walked three times.

71st win!

Bucs whiffed eleven Redleg hitters.

The Bad
Reds were on base all the time

The Rest
Lincoln’s previous appearance against the Reds was 2/3 innings of relief. Wood falls to 2-2 in his career against Pittsburgh.

Harrison’s four hits mark a career best. This is Walker’s twelfth game in 2011 with three or more hits.

The four steals by the Pirates was the second time in 2011 the team stole four bags in a game. Last time they swiped more than that was five against Colorado on 8/11/2009.

Related Articles

Article Drop

Latest Articles