The Pirates won the resumption of yesterday afternoon’s suspended game against the Cubs in dramatic fashion today, taking the series opener in Wrigley by a 5-3 score. Tony Watson and Mark Melancon both pitched two scoreless innings, and Josh Harrison and Tony Sanchez drove in runs in the top of the 11th to provide the margin of victory. John Holdzkom pitched an easy bottom of the 11th for his first big league save; he’s made two appearances thus far and struck out five of the six hitters he’s faced. The ridiculous nature of the John Holdzkom story really can’t be understated at this point. JJ Cooper wrote a great piece at Baseball America on Friday about his journey through the independent leagues to the Pirates’ system this year, and though it’s a bit long, you should definitely bookmark it and take the time to read it this weekend.
Anyway, that win keeps the Pirates within a half-game of the Braves and a game-and-a-half of the Brewers before this evening’s action (they’re 4 1/2 behind the Cardinals, if you’re made of more optimistic stock than I am). Francisco Liriano starts against Felix Doubront in the second part of today’s festitivites. Both Brent Morel and Chris Stewart are starting. Morel is likely in the lineup due to Josh Harrison tweaking his ankle on a pop-up in the bottom of the 11th of today’s first game, while Stewart being the go-to catcher in this situation should tell you pretty much all you need to know about what the Pirates think of Tony Sanchez as a catcher at this point.
The second game starts at 5:45.
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