Andrew McCutchen shines as Pittsburgh Pirates defeat Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 – MLB Update
Andrew McCutchen pitched two shut-out innings and hit a game-ending homer in the 12th inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 at PNC Park, Pittsburgh on Wednesday, June 8.
One day after staging an astonishing come-back and winning by 8-5, the Pirates once again rallied to gain a victory in the fiercely competitive game.
"It's a pretty resilient way of how we've gotten there," said manager Clint Hurdle."We're a gutty ballclub. How good we are, time will tell. Sometimes we're more stubborn than good. Sometimes we've got more guts than we've got brains. I'm proud of them.
I like the way everybody is throwing something in."
Paul Maholm kicked off the game for the Pirates with a solid first inning, providing no opportunity to hit. Zach Duke, however, gave up two hits in the bottom of first inning when he was dispatched as the starting pitcher for Arizona.
While Maholm was coming down hard on the supposedly strong Diamondbacks’ offence, McCutchen led the way for the Pirates. McCutchen hit a sacrifice fly to left, enabling Tabata to score the first run for the Pirates.
McCutchen’s ability to seek an early lead for his team helped Maholm to make things difficult for the Diamondbacks. Maholm accomplished a great deal for the team by keeping the Diamondbacks at bay.
Maholm pitched six solid innings and not allowing any run. Once Jose Veras was sent out to pitch the eighth inning, the Diamondbacks suddenly found an opportunity in him to score. Stephen Drew scored the first run for the team and levelled the score.
The Pirates had hardly come out of the shock that Drew drove in the second single for the Diamondbacks, scoring a tiebreaking run in the tenth inning.
However, Neil Walker did not allow it to go for long as he singled to centre on a vulnerable pitch of J. J. Putz, levelling the score for the Pirates. McCutchen, who seemed to have been fated as a sole hero, pitched a shut-out 11th and 12th
innings.
McCutchen was not satisfied with a run that he scored and the shut-out innings he pitched. Once Kroenke came out to pitch for Arizona, McCutchen homered to left on the third pitch of 12th inning to give a fascinating 3-2 victory to the Pirates.
It will be interesting to see how the Pirates carry their winning momentum into their next match-up.
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