The Pittsburgh Pirates did not play a very good series against the Texas Rangers, dropping the last two games after winning game one. They looked to rebound by visiting Miami to take on an improved Marlins team.
Game One: Jeff Locke (3-3, 5.08ERA) vs. Justin Nicolino (2-2, 4.37ERA)
Result: Pirates win 10-0
Winning Pitcher: Jeff Locke (4-3, 4.33ERA)
Losing Pitcher: Justin Nicolino (2-3, 4.50ERA)
- What went right:
- Jeff Locke had maybe the best start of his career as he completely dominated the Marlins and tossed a complete game shutout. He finished allowing zero runs on three hits and struck out one.
- David Freese had a big game in the offensive explosion. He went 4-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
- Gregory Polanco was a monster. He went 2-4 with a grand slam, four RBIs and two runs scored.
- Sean Rodriguez continued his fantastic season. He went 1-4 with a home run, two RBIs and a run scored.
- What went wrong:
- Francisco Cervelli grounded into a double play.
- Starling Marte was caught stealing.
- Adeiny Hechavarria had a base hit for the Marlins.
- Jeff Locke struck out four times as a batter.
If you took a poll at the beginning of the season about who would throw the first complete game for the Pirates, I doubt Jeff Locke’s name would have come up, but that’s baseball. Locke was outstanding and the Pirates offense gave him more than enough run support to open up the series with a victory.
Game two of the series featured one of the most marquee pitching match-ups of the regular season thus far.
Game Two: Gerrit Cole vs. Jose Fernandez
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