Pittsburgh Pirates defeat Atlanta Braves 5-2 – MLB Update
Andrew McCutchen had a two-run homer in the ninth on Thursday, July 28 to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 5-2 at Turner Field.
Having a little fitness problem, McCutchen did not feel discouraged and had big hits to attain a victory for the team.
McCutchen was imbued with confidence and happu after the game. “I changed something simple," McCutchen said. "The thing about me is if I'm not feeling too well, if something is off, I can figure it out pretty quick by looking at film."
Andrew had no less than three hits to his credit in the game and scored in the most crucial time. He scored his 15th homer of the season in the ninth to guide his team to victory, something that levelled the four-game series by 2-2.
"Before you see something, you have to feel it first, and I could feel that something was off," said McCutchen.
Even the Atlanta Braves’ players acknowledged the ever improving performance of the Pittsburgh Pirates. "They're a good team. They're a real good team," Braves’ catcher David Ross said. "They're playing well and they know it. They don't beat themselves like
they used to."
Eric Hinske scored the first run for the Braves in the very first inning, going for a big hit against the Pirates’ starter, Kevin Correia. However, the Pirates’ offence responded back and did so quickly.
Correia who had just allowed a run scored one himself, going against the Braves’ Derek Lowe to level the score.
Both Correia and Lowe then pitched strong innings right into the fifth when McCutchen opened his bat against the Braves’ defence. McCutchen doubled to deep left-centre to score the tiebreaking run followed by an RBI single scored by Pedro Alvarez, giving
the Pirates a 3-1 lead.
Correia pitched a shut-out fifth only to allow a run to Dan Uggla in the sixth that brought the Braves back in the game with a 3-2 score. Correia went for the shut-out seventh to contain the Braves’ scorers followed by Joe Beimel’s strong eighth, maintaining
the 3-2 lead intact.
It was at the top of the ninth inning that Andrew McCutchen, who had already driven in a run, homered to left to give a strong 5-2 lead to the Pirates. Joel Hanrahan was successful in the ninth to pitch a shut-out inning to turn the lead into 5-2 in for
the team, also giving them a win the series.
The Pirates put in a tremendous performance as they managed to restrict the Braves’ offence. Atlanta will be looking to improve their game-play before their next match-up. It will be interesting to see how Pittsburgh carries their new found confidence forward.
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