Erik Bedard shines as Pittsburgh Pirates rout Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0 – MLB Update
Pittsburgh Pirates produced a magical pitching performance to shut-out Arizona Diamondbacks 4-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, August 6 in first game of their four match series.
First baseman Gaby Sanchez provided Pittsburgh Pirates with a decent start as he grounded out to shortstop in the fourth to break the deadlock. Andrew McCutchen scored to put the Pirates 1-0 ahead.
Neil Walker also had a great time on the home run plate, reaching on infield single to shortstop in the eighth to double the lead to 2-0.
Right fielder Travis Snider continued to put pressure on Arizona’s pitching attack with an RBI single to right and catcher Rod Barajas hit a sacrifice fly to centre in the eighth to give his side complete control of the situation.
"We broke out an old fashioned baseball game today: Pitching and defense," Hurdle said.
Diamondbacks’ offence struggled to make the most of scoring opportunities right from the start of the contest. Only first baseman Paul Goldschmidt managed to get two hits against Pirates’ starting pitcher Erik Bedard, who grabbed his sixth win of the season.
Bedard pitched seven scoreless innings, playing a key role in deciding the outcome of the clash. His counterpart from Arizona, Wade Miley allowed six hits and a run in six innings to take his seventh loss of the year.
"That's just what you try to do -- make some good pitches, get some outs and get the hitters back out there," Bedard said. "And that's what I tried to do."
"He pitched exceptional tonight," Pirates' manager Clint Hurdle said. "He pitched to four spots, he got the ball inside, he mixed in his breaking ball for strikes, he got it for chase, he worked with a very good tempo and rhythm tonight. You can't pitch
much better than that."
Hurdle will be extremely pleased to see his team back on the winning track. After losing two out three against the Cincinnati Reds in their previous series, the Pirates needed to come up with a big shot against the Diamondbacks and that is exactly what they
did on Monday afternoon to take an impressive 1-0 lead in the series.
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