Myers, Astros Beat Pirates At Rainy PNC Park

By Chad Carlson

Photo Credit: AP

The Pirates faced off against the Astros in game two of their series tonight at PNC Park with six new faces in uniform.  Among others, Pedro Alvarez was back in Pittsburgh, and in the starting lineup, as the Bucs looked to take the second game, and clinch the series, against an Astros’ team that swept them at Minute Maid Park a week ago.

Brett Myers has been having a rough year for Houston, with a 3-13 record and a 4.81 ERA coming into tonight’s game.  Of course, as we’ve seen in the past, these types of situations always seem to bite the Pirates, and that’s exactly what happened tonight.  Myers pitched a spectacular game, giving up just one run on four hits through 7.2 innings, as the Astros outlasted the Bucs 4-1 in a frustrating game at PNC Park.

Despite the loss, Pittsburgh starter Brad Lincoln had another solid start, giving up just two runs on five hits through six innings.  The Pirates used a total of six pitchers tonight, all of which threw scoreless baseball with the exception of Jose Veras, who gave up a very costly pair in the ninth.

The Astros took the lead in the second inning with a pair of runs off Lincoln.  Carlos Lee led off with a single, stole second, and scored on a fielder’s choice hit by Jimmy Paredes.  Humberto Quintero’s double in the right center field gap scored Paredes, and the Astros led 2-0.

Pittsburgh cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the second.  Neil Walker smacked a one-out single, and was thrown out while trying to steal second.  On the very next pitch, Ryan Doumit hammered a solo homerun to deep right center field, getting the Bucs on the board at 2-1.

Both teams squandered opportunities to score over the next several innings.  Houston stranded two runners in the top of the fourth, and the Pirates, after getting a leadoff double from Garrett Jones, were unable to score the tying run. 

The seventh inning proved to be the biggest flop for the Astros.  With runners on first and third and one out, Myers laid down a bunt that conveniently bounced back towards Chris Resop, who flipped it to Doumit, making a great tag on Paredes, who was trying to score.  Resop then struck out Jordan Schafer to end the threat.

Pittsburgh blew a huge opportunity of their own in the eighth inning.  With two outs, Josh Harrison hit a pinch-hit ground ball back to Myers, who wildly threw past first baseman Carlos Lee, allowing Harrison to move up to second.  Wesley Wright came in for Myers, who walked Alex Presley on four pitches and, after falling behind 2-0 to Jones, got the Pirates’ first baseman to fly out to shallow right field to end the inning.

The Astros opened things up in the ninth with two runs.  With runners on second and third and just one out, Quintero smashed a single into left centerfield, scoring two runs off Jose Veras and stretching Houston’s lead to 4-1.  Daniel Moskos, who was recalled earlier today, got the final two outs of the inning for Pittsburgh.

Other than a Derrek Lee single, the Pirates went peacefully in the ninth, as the Astros’ Mark Melancon earned his 17^th save of the season.

It’s tough to understand how the Astros continue to play well against Pittsburgh, having won four of the last five contests between the two teams.  The Pirates’ offense struggled tonight, accumulating only five hits total as a team, while Alex Presley, Garrett Jones, and Andrew McCutchen, the top three hitters in the lineup, went a combined 1-11, including an 0-4 performance from Cutch, who has seen his batting average drop to a mediocre .267.  Pedro Alvarez went 0-3 in his first game back, while Neil Walker had two hits in the losing effort.

The Pirates still have a chance to win this final series between the two teams tomorrow night at PNC Park.  Ryan Ludwick will be back in uniform, while Brian Burres will make the start on the hill.

Record Vs. Astros: 10-7

Record Vs. N.L. Central: 34-36

Record At Home: 32-39

Overall Record: 65-77

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!

Old Glory And Jolly Roger Raised In Pirates 5-3 Win Over Astros

by Zane Heiple

Photo by Getty Images

Sloppy Joes may be on some of your 4^th of July cookout menus, and early on it looked like sloppy defense was on the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Today’s game against the Houston Astros didn’t start off great, but great pitching and timely hits allowed the Buccos to go three games over .500 for the first time since 1999 with the 5-3 win.

Paul Maholm once again pitched very well and gave his team the chance to win.  He would go six innings allowing only one earned run on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts.  His counterpart, Brett Myers, gave up fourteen hits, four earned runs, and one strikeout in six innings of work.  For the 25^th time this season, Joel Hanrahan closed out the game and sent Pirates fans home happy.

The errors that occurred today for Pittsburgh all came in the third inning.  One was by Lyle Overbay on a throw to third base.  The other two came from Josh Harrison who had trouble fielding a groundball by Hunter Pence and then three batters later made a throwing error to first.  Harrison would be taken out of the game in the fourth inning because he was complaining of dizziness that occurred after he collided with the catcher in the second inning. 

Pittsburgh tied the game in the second inning when Michael McKenry singled to left field bringing Overbay home.  After Houston went up 3-1 in the third, the Buccos answered in the bottom part of the inning.  It started when Andrew McCutchen doubled home Chase d’Arnaud.  The tying run came around two batters later when Overbay singled home Cutch.

The Pirates took the lead for good in the fifth on a Neil Walker single to right field that brought d’Arnaud home.  Insurance was added in the sixth by the Buccos when Alex Presley tripled home Brandon Wood from second.

The bullpen bridge from Maholm to Hanrahan included scoreless innings of work from Daniel McCutchen and Jose Veras.  D-Cutch picked up his fifth hold of the year, while Veras picked up hold number 17 on the season.  Hanrahan also set a team record for most saves to start a year without blowing one, with 25.  Game two of this series will be tomorrow night at 7:05.

Happy Independence Day to all of our readers, from Fans From The Stands.

Record vs. Astros:  6-1
Record vs. N.L. Central:  17-10
Record at PNC Park:  20-20
Overall Record:  44-41

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!!!