Pittsburgh Pirates stun Minnesota Twins 9-1 – MLB Recap
The Pittsburgh Pirates stunned the Minnesota Twins 9-1 in the third and final game of their three-match regular series encounter on Thursday, June 21 at PNC Park in 2012 Major League Baseball season.
Pittsburgh played brilliantly and literally gave chance to the Twins to dominate at any stage of the game instead they kept them under pressure and took the game in style.
Stretching nine runs’ lead in the first seven innings of the game, the Pirates took control of the game with full force and never allowed their opponents to score freely.
Starting rotation was the key factor behind in the Pirates win. James McDonald completed his nine innings’ spell with only one run and six hits. He remained calm on the mound and struck-out five batters as his ERA remained consistent at 2.19.
"He told me I need to be that guy who wants seven to nine innings every night out. Tonight after the seventh, that just went through my brain the whole time, I could see he really wanted me to finish the game, all my teammates wanted me to finish the game
-- and I finally believed in myself I could finish the game." McDonald said with confidence on his brilliant outing which gave his team a superb win.
Liam Hendriks could not save the game for the Twins. In-fact the entire Twins’ rotation was not accurate with their pitching.
Hendricks pitched five innings and allowed eight hits and six runs. He also gave three earned runs and a homer as his ERA rose to 7.39.
"I feel prepared; I'm throwing well in warmups then I get out to the game and something changes, I give up a couple of runs before I get in that groove and get my aggressiveness going." Hendriks said
Closer Jeff Manship also played poorly as he was stuck for three runs and three hits along with three earned runs as his ERA climbed to 9.31.
This was yet another big defeat for the Twins as their chances are also decreasing to qualify for the post season with poor 28-41 win loss and .406 winning percentage.
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