Pittsburgh Pirates beaten by Los Angeles Dodgers 4-5 at PNC Park – MLB Update
Pittsburgh Pirates were beaten by the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-5 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, August 13 in the opening game of their four match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Pittsburgh was outclassed by their National League rivals in all aspects of the game on Monday. Pirates’ offence in particular paid the heavy price for their unforced errors. Dodgers, on the other hand, took complete advantage of the situation to grab a
narrow win to take 1-0 lead in the series.
Pirates’ Manager Clint Hurdle will be expecting the players to fight back at this critical stage of the season and it will be interesting to see if the Pirates can turn the table on Los Angeles in Game 2.
"It'll always be a challenge coming back," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "But sometimes that's how the game is laid out for you and you've got to keep battling."
Shane Victorino doubled to right in the third to provide the Dodgers with an excellent start. Matt Kemp also made a useful contribution in the third and Victorino homered to right in the fifth to extend Dodgers’ lead to 4-2. Juan Rivera earned an RBI single
to centre in the eighth as the Dodgers took complete control of the situation.
"He's been through it -- playoff runs the last three or four years, World Series," said Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly said of Victorino. "They just get hardened, and this is not going to overwhelm him down the stretch."
"I just keep plugging along," Victorino said. "There's nothing different that I've done. You know when you've got confidence and you feel good at the plate, yeah, things kind of keep going that way."
For the Pirates, Garrett Jones drove in crucial runs to keep his side in the hunt. Michael McKenry singled to shallow left in the eighth to reduce the deficit to 4-5 but the Pirates were unable to cross the winning line.
Starting pitcher Jeff Karstens took his fourth loss of the season after he gave up seven hits and four runs in seven innings. His counterpart from Dodgers, Aaron Harang improved to 8-7 with a magical performance.
Tags: