San Diego Padres hammer Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 – MLB Recap
The San Diego Padres hammered the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 in the first game of their three-match regular series encounter on Friday, August 10 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Padres’ starting rotation played brilliantly and earned a great victory for their team.
"It was a great game for Headley, Obviously the big blow tied the game, and the right-handed homer gave us the lead. You can't hit two bigger home runs and also [get] five RBIs when we needed [them] the most," manager Bud Black said.
Starter Edinson Volquez pitched 3.1 brilliant innings for the Padres and helped his team to seal a deserving win in the end.
He remained calm on the mound in his entire spell as he allowed six runs and seven hits.
"I think it's a mechanical issue, I really do, I think it starts with his stride, his stride direction and stride length, which I think has gotten away from him," Black said of Volquez.
He received six earned runs and struck-out three while he was also smashed for two homers.
Though he gave too many runs and did not show his natural aggressive game, but still he was able to maintain his ERA at 4.03 and proved one of the winning factors for his team.
Relief pitcher Alex Hinshaw also supported his team-mate starter Volquez as he allowed only one run on two hits. He pitched well and maintained his 4.67 ERA.
Closer Brad Brach pitched 2.0 innings and allowed one run, two hits and one earned run. He also remained his calm and struck-out three Pirates’ batters on his 3.80 ERA.
On the other hand, the Pirates' starter did not play well and literally lost the game for his team.
James McDonald started the play for the Pirates and allowed seven all important runs while his ERA sat at 3.77.
“This is something that a lot of players don't want to go through, but they have to sometimes, I let the team down today, big time," McDonald said.
His pitching literally proved disastrous for the team as Pirates could not bounce back and lost in the end.
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