Pittsburgh Pirates defeat Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 to win series – MLB Update
The Pittsburgh Pirates invaded the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario as they pounded the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 on Thursday, June 30.
The Pirates displayed team-work of high degree as their batters continued to score at regular intervals and their pitchers restricted the Blue Jays to only two runs, both coming in the fifth inning.
Alex Presley helped the Pirates open their scoring, adding a run at the top of the first inning. Josh Harrison added one more in the fifth to take the score to 2-0.
The Blue Jays replied in style. Yunel Escobar, with a slugging percentage of .440, has been hitting quite well this season and his power was on display once again at Rogers Centre. Escobar unleashed his arms to connect the ball, seeing it sail out of the
park and completing his ninth home-run this season. J.P. Arencibia has been in top hitting form too and he exhibited that quite brilliantly. Arencibia’s hit earned the Blue Jays two back-to-back home-runs and levelled the score at 2-2. He now has 14 career
home-runs, 12 of which have come this season.
Furious by the strong hitting of the Blue Jays, the Pirates reorganised and countered back in the sixth inning. Lyle Overbay added one run before Brandon Wood took advantage of his strong build to hammer one into the stands to complete his third home-run
of the season. Ronny Cedeno cashed in on Wood’s hit to complete his run and establish a strong three-run lead over the Blue Jays.
Andrew McCutchen contributed to the Pirates scoring in the seventh inning after which the scorecard read 6-2 and the Blue Jays seemed out of sorts. Four quick runs in two innings tore down the confidence in the Blue Jays’ bull-pen and there was no coming
back in the game.
Jeff Karstens was simply brilliant with his pitching. Although he managed only two strike-outs, his seven innings were precise and cost the Pirates only two runs, both coming off home-runs in the fifth inning. Karstens brilliance earned him his sixth win
of the season. Chris Resop, Tony Watson and Jose Veras reproduced Karstens’ act as relief pitchers and restricted the Toronto batters from scoring.
Brett Cecil, the Blue Jays’ starting pitcher could not meet the high standards set by Karstens and company. Cecil was all over the plate, going for six expensive runs in just over six innings. His ERA of 7.24 is way past the Major League average and that
rightly earned him his third loss of the season, with just a solitary win thus far. The relief pitchers put in a good effort towards the end but the six runs were enough for the Pirates to defend.
The Pirates won the three-game series 2-1.
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