Pittsburgh Pirates edge Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 at Citizens Bank Park – MLB Update
Pittsburgh Pirates edged Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Thursday, June 28 in the finale of their four match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Pirates handled their nerves brilliantly in a game that turned out to be a thriller. With two wins in the previous three games against Pittsburgh, the Phillies had the momentum on their side but the Pirates had other ideas.
Clint Hurdle and company made a very aggressive start to the contest as they raced to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. The offence made the most of available opportunities to make the Phillies pay heavily for their errors on the field.
Pirates’ starting pitcher A.J. Burnett put up another powerful show as he won for the ninth time this season. Allowing just three runs and six hits with seven strike-outs, he dented Philadelphia’s confidence levels.
"I was really impressed with McKenry," Burnett said. "He was outstanding. I can't say enough about him. It was a pleasure to work with him. He picked up where Rod left off."
"Gave us a chance to win, pitched deep into the game, which they needed me to," said Phillies starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick.
Garrett Jones provided his team with the perfect start as he singled to right in the first inning and the Pirates took an early 1-0 lead. Casey McGehee played a key role in deciding the outcome of the clash as he hit a three run home-run to left-centre to
extend the lead to 4-0.
"I think at one point I was trying to do too much," McGehee said. "I was with a new team trying to make a good impression. Then I went back to just trying to hit the ball up the middle of the field."
Pedro Alvarez also made his presence felt as he homered to right in the first to help the Pirates split the four game series by winning the last two. The Phillies fought back superbly in closing stages of the game but the Pirates held on to their slim lead
to level series.
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