Jake Arrieta shines as Baltimore Orioles defeat Pittsburgh Pirates 8-3 – MLB Update
Jake Arrieta put in a brilliant pitching performance as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-3 at PNC Park, Pittsburgh on Monday, June 20.
Baltimore’s offence came down hard on the Pirates’ starter Charlie Morton when he was dispatched to pitch. Adam Jones was the first to heavily pound the Pirates’ defence which has been straining a great deal lately.
Jones earned a precious two-run homer followed by Derek Lee who singled to right to triple the lead for the Orioles. If Charlie Morton thought it was enough, Robert Andino singled to left to take the lead to 4-0 in the very first inning.
Arrieta, the starter for Baltimore, played his part in the same inning with his single to right, taking the lead to 5-0. "I got an at-bat in the first, something I really didn't expect to do," Arrieta said. "It was a fun game to be a part of."
Jake then threw a scoreless inning to maintain the 5-0 lead. Matt Wieters and Mark Reynolds got a single each to take the lead to 7-0 in the second inning, compounding the struggling Pirates’ woes.
"It's nice to get an early lead like that, but more importantly we continued to build on it," Lee said. While Arrieta kept pitching well with his rapid fastballs, Ronny Cedeno scored the first run for the Pirates in the second inning.
The starter’s unsatisfactory performance triggered the change in guards as Daniel McCutchen was sent to pitch, but the Orioles did not stop the flow of runs as J.J. Hardy singled to left to take the lead to 8-1.
Xavier Paul and Ronny Cedeno scored a single each in the fourth inning to bring the Orioles lead down to 8-3. However, in the later half, Arrieta pitched faster to the Pirates’ offence, keeping the lead intact and building pressure on them.
Arrieta pitched five innings and allowed only three runs to maintain the team’s comfortable lead. "I really don't know what it is, the team, they find a way to put runs on the board when I'm on the mound," Arrieta said. "It's a good feeling for me. I'm not
going to argue with it."
Once the starter was replaced, the Orioles’ relievers did not show any vulnerability to the now cornered Pirates’ offence and pitched perfectly up until the 9th inning to pave the way of an easy 8-3 victory for the Baltimore Orioles in the three-game
series’ first encounter.
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