PITTSBURGH — Trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 in the bottom of the 9th inning, the Pirates attempted to end their four game skid by rallying off reliever Blake Hawksworth.
Jose Tabata lead off the frame with a single and Alex Presley followed by taking a 3-2 pitch to right field for a two-run shot. It was Presley’s second Major League home run and first long ball since his 2011 debut on June 28th in Toronto.
“I worked it to a 3-2 count,” Presley said. “We were down 6-1 so I figured I could sell out on it. He didn’t want to put anybody on base so I just got one in a good spot.”
From there, Andrew McCutchen drew a walk and advanced to third base on a single up the middle by Ryan Doumit. Neil Walker hit a sac fly to right field to cut the lead, 6-4.
But the rally fell short after both Josh Harrison and Brandon Wood struck out swinging to end the game.
“I was glad to see the ninth inning,” Manager Clint Hurdle said. “We’ve got to find better ways to have better ownership of our at-bats. We have not got the big hit when we’ve needed it. We’ve got to find a way to slow our heartbeats down at the plate. Guys are just cutting us up. We’re making it way too easy for them right now.”
With the 6-4 loss, the Pirates have lost five in a row and seven of their last eight games.
“Everything starts with a thought,” Hurdle said. “A proper thought, positive thought is imperative in this game when you go up there. You don’t want a lot of hope tied to your at-bat. You’ve got to have a game plan, and you’ve got to stick to it.”
“We’ve got to do better collectively as a group offensively. We’ve got to have better quality to our at-bats.”
After allowing a three run 1st inning, right-hander Brad Lincoln cruised over his next four frames and was able to get out of a jam unscathed in the 6th in his fourth start with the Pirates this season.
“He did very well,” Hurdle said. “In the first inning, the east and west location was good. The north and south, not so much. Those two pitches that he jammed the leadoff hitter Gordon and Kemp, if those balls are down six inches they are ground balls rolled up to infielders. After that he really pitched.”
Rookie Dee Gordon leadoff the game with a single to left field. With one out, Matt Kemp singled to right field allowing Gordon to advance to third. Kemp swiped second base, marking Kemp’s career-high 36th stolen base. Andre Ethier was intentionally walked to load the bases. Aaron Miles ripped a two-run single into right field. Tony Gwynn Jr. followed by hitting a sac fly to center to plate the third run of the inning.
“If I can just eliminate the early runs, come in more focused, go maybe deeper in a ballgame where I don’t have to fight from behind from the start,” Lincoln said.
“I think I just need to be more focused. Go into that first inning and not try to feel things and go right at guys and not let early base runners get on, let them do some situational hitting. That’s all there is too it.”
After a rough 1st start to the game, Lincoln retired the next nine batters he faced before Ellis singled with two outs in the 4th inning.
All in all, Lincoln allowed three runs –all in the 1st inning– on six hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out three.
“For me to go out there and pitch deep into the game, six innings after giving up three in the first is a plus, Lincoln said. “You want to give your team the best chance to win every time out. I felt I did that. To be able to fight from behind in the early part of the game is difficult.”
With one out and a 4-1 lead in the 8th and the bases loaded, Gordon lined a two-run double down the right field line off reliever Chris Resop.
Resop has now allowed eight runs in his last seven appearances. He has already set career highs in games (67) and innings pitched (61.0).
The Pirates were only able to plate one run off the Dodgers left-hander Dana Eveland.
Ryan Doumit leadoff single to left field in the 2nd. Neil Walker followed by hitting a grounder that reflected off the glove of Gordon at shortstop. Josh Harrison hit into a double play, allowing Doumit to score from third base.
From there, Eveland, held the Pirates to just the one run on six hits over eight innings.
“He threw well,” Presley said. “He threw a lot of strikes. He forced us into a lot of weak contact. He did a really good job. I played with him last year with Indianapolis so I was kind of familiar with him. But he threw well.”
“He mixed it up really well with different pitches. His fastball would cut sometimes, sometimes it wouldn’t.”
Eveland, who spent the entire season in the Minors, made his first start in the Majors since June 7, 2010. The Pirates, who didn’t arrive to Pittsburgh until 3:00 AM and didn’t arrive at the ballpark until 2:00 PM, didn’t get a lot of time to review him.
“Not much [time] at all,” Presley said. “We could have done better. He threw really well. It’s just one of those days you just don’t hit as many balls as hard as you’d like and it didn’t fall for you.”
The Pirates travel to Chicago after tonight’s game to open up a three-game set this weekend against the Cubs. Left-hander Brian Burress is expected to start for the Pirates. It will be his 2011 debut. He will face the Cubs’ Ryan Dempster (10-10, 4.76 ERA).
Photo credit: Yahoo! Sports
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