The Pirates are showing it takes a complete team effort to take down one of the game’s best.
For the second consecutive night, the Pirates leaned on their bullpen and some clutch hitting to top the Padres, 5-1, at PNC Park on Wednesday night. The Buccos also got a boost from their starter, Tyler Anderson (1-2), who outdueled former Pirate Joe Musgrove (2-1), who was making his first start since hurling the first no-hitter in Padres’ history.
A day after Derek Shelton emptied the tank in the bullpen, Anderson delivered 5 ⅓ much-needed innings. Anderson surrendered a run on four hits and a pair of walks but struck out a pair and kept the Padres off the board for five innings.
Duane Underwood Jr. allowed an inherited runner to score on Tommy Pham’s single in the sixth. But after giving up the hit to the first batter he faced, he got the Pirates through the seventh inning with three strikeouts and a well-timed double play to end the frame.
He was the first man up for a bullpen that’s held the Padres scoreless for the past 8.2 innings going back to Monday night. Sam Howard and Chris Stratton both faced the minimum to close out the game.
Adam Frazier had a huge night at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored in his return to the lead-off spot against his old pal, Musgrove.
The Pirates benefitted from some timely hitting once again after crowding the bases against San Diego. Colin Moran and Erik Gonzalez provided run-scoring hits for the second consecutive night. Frazier’s third hit plated a pair of insurance runs in the eighth inning. The Buccos were 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded at least one runner on base in every inning but got just what they needed from the offense.
It’s been a rough start for Gregory Polanco, but he put forth his best effort of the season Wednesday.
Polanco opened the scoring with a solo shot in the second, added another base hit and stole a base in the fourth and drew a pair of walks to give him eight on the year. The club’s longest-tenured and highest-paid player was out of the starting lineup for the previous two games and had just four hits through his first 26 at-bats of the season.
More coverage to come from PNC Park.