The Pittsburgh Pirates ended their four-game losing streak tonight thanks to early offense and an excellent start from Ivan Nova.
The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Houston Astros 7-0 tonight, taking the second game of three in the series.
Takeaways
- Pirates’ starter Ivan Nova was dominant tonight, tossing his first complete game as a Pirate. He was close to a shutout but gave up one run in the ninth inning. He threw 98 pitches, 69 for strikes. Nova dropped his ERA to 3.20 since coming to Pittsburgh. So far, Nova has been a shot in the arm (literally) that the Pirates’ starting rotation has needed.
- Gregory Polanco clubbed two home runs tonight, giving him 19 on the season. His second home run of the night was particularly impressive, as he reached out and lined a slider over right center field wall against the left-hander Tony Sipp. Polanco has struggled in August, hitting just .190 during the month before this game. Hopefully tonight will spark him as we near the final month of the season.
- Josh Bell continues to hit well in the show adding two singles tonight. He is 6-12 in his young career. He also looked pretty good over at first base tonight with some good stretches. Matt Joyce swatted two hits as well, including an RBI double in the first inning.
Throwaways
- Not much went wrong for the Buccos tonight. Francisco Cervelli was the only Pirate starter to not register a hit tonight, going 0-4 on the night.
- As stated above, Josh Bell has looked good at the plate in his young Pirate career, but he hasn’t looked so hot on the bases. For a second straight game, Bell was thrown out at second base trying to stretch a single into a double.
W – Ivan Nova (3-0)
L – Joe Musgrove (1-2)
Line of the Night
Ivan Nova has exceeded expectations so far in his Pirates career. Tonight he tossed a complete game giving up six hits, one run, and one walk, while striking out six. It was only his first walk as a Pirate.
Player of the Game
Hop on over to our twitter feed to cast your vote for tonight’s Player Of The Game!
The #Pirates offense returns in a 7-1 win over the #Astros. Who was your Player of the Game tonight?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) August 24, 2016
Next Up
The Pirates face the Astros in a rubber match tomorrow afternoon with Gerrit Cole facing off against Collin McHugh.
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