Pittsburgh Pirates secure narrow 2-1 win against Atlanta Braves – MLB Update
Pittsburgh Pirates showed great determination and fighting spirit as they edged past the Atlanta Braves 2-1 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Monday, October 1 in the opening of their three match series.
Pirates, who ended first half of the season at the top of National League Central Division, have not been able to live up to the expectations after the All Star Break. Although they are out of the playoff race, they can certainly make themselves proud by
ending the season on a winning note.
Braves have already made it to the playoffs. They will be looking to regroup and fight back in Game 2 to gain some momentum going into the next round.
"It's something we shoot for, the division," Nationals’ Manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We didn't get it, but we've got the wild card game and you know there's been many, many teams that go through the wild card to win the World Series."
Pirates’ starting pitcher Jeff Locke grabbed his first win of the season after he gave up just two hits and one run in six innings. Striking-out six Braves’ batters, he used his fastballs and sliders effectively.
"It just feels good to win, after everything this team has been through this year, especially this last little while," Locke said.
Relief pitchers Jeff Karstens, Tony Watson and Jared Hughes kept the pressure on the Braves, tossing up three scoreless innings to help Pirates hold on to their one run lead.
Braves’ starter Paul Maholm also had a decent outing as he allowed just five hits and two runs in seven solid innings but his side was unable to score enough runs on Monday evening.
"For the most part I did mostly what I wanted," Maholm said. "Obviously I'd rather not give up the two runs, but you go seven and give up two."
After Atlanta took the early lead, second baseman Chase d’Arnaud grounded out to shortstop in the third inning to put Pirates on the board. Starling Marte was the star of the show as he hit the tie breaking home-run to centre in the fifth inning.
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