Pittsburgh Pirates: Regular season results for June- MLB 2011 - Part 6
After having a disastrous series against Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to get things back on track with strong performances in a three match series with Baltimore Orioles. With a decent 35-36 win-loss, Clint Hurdle and his men were still
pretty much in the playoffs race. However, they needed to lift their game considerably to yield positive results in their future fixtures.
The Pirates were unable to play their A game in game one as they were hammered 3-8 in the opening game. Although Orioles pitcher, Jake Arrieta did not have his best time on the mound, his team-mates did put up a brilliant show with the bat.
“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.”
Nice Markakis added three hits to extend his hitting streak to eleven games as Baltimore continued to impress critics with some high quality baseball. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, looked short of answers against the onslaught by their opponents. The pitchers
failed to get the job done and the hitters were able to post very few runs on the board. Clint Hurdle, however, aimed to comeback stronger to cheer up fans.
Looking to stage a comeback into the series, the Pirates raised their game to an entirely new level in the following game. Dominating their opponents in almost all departments of the game, they secured a thumping 9-3 win to level the series. Neil Walker
produced a match winning performance as he hit twice and drove in three runs and the Pirates snapped their four-game losing streak in an emphatic fashion.
“We average nine runs a game in these units,” Pittsburgh manager, Clint Hurdle joked.
Chris Resop also picked up his third win of the season. Commenting on his performance, Clint Hurdle added, “All these guys have pitched a lot of innings in the last week and pitched extremely well and it (was) time on offense that we gave them a little breathing
room.”
The Pirates showed amazing self belief, temperament and mental abilities in the third and final game of the series as they won a thriller to clinch the series 2-1. The win also improved their win-loss record to the break-even point. Handling the pressure
with so much ease, Hurdle’s side looked very comfortable out there as they rallied past the Orioles in a nail-biting contest. Andre McCutchen had two hits, one run and an RBI for his side. Hurdle aimed to continue their good run in their next series as well.
Continued in part 7
Tags: