The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 tonight, winning the second game in this four game series.
Jordy Mercer led the way with a grand slam as the Pirates stay 2.5 games back of the second Wild Card spot.
Takeaways
- The Brewers were generous to the Pirates in the top of the sixth inning. After third baseman Jonathan Villar started the inning with two errors, Starling Marte got the Bucs on the board with an RBI double. Three batters later, Jordy Mercer stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and deposited a Matt Garza slider into the left field bullpen. Just like that, it was 5-0 Pirates.
- After his grand slam tonight, Jordy Mercer has 10 home runs on the season. This is the second time in his career that he has reached the 10 home run mark.
- Felipe Rivero looked extremely impressive in the seventh inning tonight. After falling behind Ryan Braun 3-0, he fought back and got him to ground out. Chris Carter and Domingo Santana then followed with back-to-back strikeouts. Since coming to Pittsburgh, Rivero has given up only one run in 13 innings pitched. He has struck out 22 and walked 10. Neftali Feliz threw a scoreless eighth in spite of throwing more balls than strikes. Tony Watson pitched a scoreless ninth inning earning his ninth save, stranding two runners.
Throwaways
- In just eight pitches, Jared Hughes managed to give up a three run homer, four-pitch walk, and single. Hughes was brought into the game in the bottom of the sixth with runners on second and third and one out. Ryan Vogelsong was charged with two earned runs after Hughes gave up the home run. His final line was 5.1 innings pitched, four hits, two earned runs, four walks, and six strikeouts. Vogelsong has a 3.02 ERA this year.
- The Pirates’ offense struck out 11 times tonight. On the flip side, the pitching staff walked six batters. Both of those totals are higher than the team would like.
W – Ryan Vogelsong (3-3)
L – Matt Garza (4-6)
S – Tony Watson (9)
Line of the Day
Jordy Mercer was 1-4 with a grand slam.
Player of the Game
Hop on over to our twitter feed to cast your vote for today’s Player Of The Game!
#RaiseIt The Pirates beat the Brewers 5-3. Who is your player of the game?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) August 27, 2016
Next Up
Jameson Taillon will face off against Jimmy Nelson tomorrow at 7:10 pm.
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