Pittsburgh Pirates edge past Milwaukee Brewers 9-8 – MLB Update
Alex Presley had a leadoff double on Monday, September 26 to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-8 at Miller Park.
Pittsburgh Pirates put in a robust start and ultimately won the opening of the three-game series.
For the Pittsburgh’s manager Clint Hurdle, the win had become a necessity owing to the fact that they had barely been able to get a victory at any game in this ballpark against the home team.
"It's been a long time for some people. Honestly, it's been the entire year for myself for the first time to come in here," Hurdle said. "The long journey starts with the first step. So, we took a first step tonight."
Were it not for Joel Hanrahan, things would have been a bit different. The closer had the 40th save of the season to hold the Milwaukee Brewers from scoring a victory. Interestingly, this was only the fourth save of any Pirates’ pitcher in Miller
Park.
"It definitely feels good. That's a pretty big number," Hanrahan said of his save total. "There's only a handful of guys that are there this year. It just goes to show the team's been giving me a lot of chances."
Alex Persley started the game with his homer to right against Shaun Marcum giving the team early lead. However, Mark Kostay went against Charlie Morton and scored a single to level the score. As the score tied, the Pirates did not budge.
Pedro Alvarez singled to centre, Chase D-Arnaud went for a run and Alex Persley scored another single to right to take the lead 4-1 for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 4-hit three-run second inning as Marcum was unable to contain the Pirates’ offence.
Yuniesky Betancourt and Corey Hart hit respective singles in the fourth inning to bring the lead down to 4-3. However, the Pirates responded against the cornered Marcum as Pedro Alvarez scored a two-run double and Chase D`Arnaud scored another run to put
the lead to 7-3 for the Pirates.
Betancourt scored a two-run double in the fifth to bring the lead down to 7-5, while Neil Walker was quick to score another run for the Pirates to make it 8-5 by the time the sixth inning came to an end.
Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Yuniesky Betancourt had their singles consecutively to level the score for the first time in the game. It was here that Alex Presley hit a leadoff double to pave the way for a victory for the Pirates.
Joel Hanrahan came down hard on the Brewers’ hitters to conclude the game with an impressive 9-8 victory for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the first win of the three-game series.
Tags: