DENVER -- A day after being dealt a blow in the form of a lopsided 12-run rout at the hands of the Rockies, the Pirates punched back and reversed the roles Sunday afternoon. Six different players contributed with multi-hit efforts and the Pirates collectively totaled 15 hits in an 8-2 win to capture the series from the Rockies at Coors Field.
Rowdy Tellez paced the offensive attack with a three-hit performance, while Andrew McCutchen, Oneil Cruz, Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo and Jack Suwinski accounted for two hits apiece to help spark a bounce-back effort that concluded a 3-3 trip through St. Louis and Colorado.
“It was good. I think we came in with a plan of a get-right win after yesterday,” Triolo said. “It was good to see everybody clicking like that."
The Pirates managed to score runs without having to rely on the long ball like they did in the first two games of the series. Three home runs accounted for four of their five runs in a 5-2 win in the opener and two homers contributed to two of their runs on Saturday.
This time around, there were multiple timely hits that helped contribute to the overall effort. The Pirates got on the board via an RBI single by Suwinski that followed a two-out double by Triolo in the second.
There were a few wasted scoring opportunities with runners on in three of the first four innings, but the bats finally broke through in the sixth. The Pirates produced five hits in the inning, including a two-run double by Triolo and a bases-clearing double by Jason Delay, who was recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis when Henry Davis was placed on the 7-day concussion injured list on Saturday.
Two additional runs came in to score in the seventh on a two-run single by Tellez, capping a scoring performance that provided plenty of support for yet another strong bullpen game.
“Yeah, they responded,” Derek Shelton said. “I mean, the first three innings we did not play well. We made some mistakes. We left some guys on base. I was proud of them that they kind of bounced back and were able to finish it off."
