The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers today in their home opener at PNC Park, bringing their record to 3-4 on the season. The Pirates won thanks to a lot of power, great pitching from Gerrit Cole, and a key performance from Jared Hughes. Here is a summary of the events, along with photos from Pirates Prospects photographer David Hague (click the images for a larger view).
Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker were presented with their 2014 Silver Slugger awards before the game. |
A.J. Burnett got a big ovation from the record-setting crowd at PNC Park when he was announced. |
Gerrit Cole: “There were some butterflies early, for sure, before the game. Luckily I was able to calm those down.” |
It helped that Josh Harrison got the Pirates on the board first, sending the first pitch over the wall.
Harrison: “I was just looking [for a fastball] out over the plate, and he left it up, and I put a good swing on it.” |
Gerrit Cole pitched a gem, giving up one run on three hits in six innings, with two walks and eight strikeouts. |
Cole: “For the most part we stayed down and just tried to work the ball in and out, and that seemed to work for us today.” |
There was a rough moment in the seventh inning when Cole loaded the bases with no outs. Jared Hughes was called on and got a double play with his first pitch, followed by a two-pitch pop out.
Hughes: “With the bases loaded you just have to pitch aggressively, get ahead in the count. What I was planning on doing is getting ahead in the count, because that’s when you have the odds in your favor as a pitcher.”
Cole: “It was excellent execution. Didn’t waste any time getting the double play, which was awesome. Went right after the next guy and popped him straight up.” |
Hughes got out of the jam, but gave up a run to cut the Pirates’ lead to 2-1. But the first basemen broke it open in the bottom of the seventh. Pedro Alvarez started things off with a solo homer, his third of the year. |
Corey Hart followed that up with a pinch hit home run later in the inning, giving the Pirates a 5-1 lead. It was nice to see Hart hitting a key home run in PNC Park while not wearing a Brewers uniform. |
Mark Melancon came on in the end to protect the four run lead, but struggled. Two doubles to left field, followed by a two-run homer by J.D. Martinez cut the score to 5-4. |
Melancon gave up a single following the homer, but got things back on track with a 5-4-3 double play, started by Josh Harrison, and finished off the game by getting Victor Martinez to strike out swinging on a curve in the dirt. |
#RAISEIT |
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