Takeaways and Throwaways – Pirates win 6-3, Cool Off the Yanks

The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the New York Yankees 6-3 thanks to timely offense and great bullpen pitching.

Welcome to Takeaways & Throwaways. Shortly after every Pittsburgh Pirates game, come to Pirates Breakdown to see our flash recap format. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about the game, without making you read the same boring recap you can see anywhere else.

FINAL:  Pittsburgh Pirates 6, New York Yankees 3

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Takeaways

• Tyler Glasnow continues to make positive strides at becoming an effective Major League starting pitcher.  Although it took him 102 pitches, the 23 year-old right hander worked his way through 4.2 innings giving up three runs (one earned) on seven hits.  He struck out five batters and walked two.  Glasnow was not very efficient this start working through a handful of deep counts.  That being said, he did do a nice job of working out of jams and limiting damage to a potent Yankee offense.  Glasnow has improved every start this season.
• Jordy Mercer got the offense going quickly hitting a lead off home run, his first of the season.  Josh Harrison and Andrew McCutchen followed with singles.  David Freese later singled in Harrison to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead after the first inning.  In the bottom of the second, Jose Osuna registered his first career hit, a triple in the right center field gap.  Josh Bell followed that with his second home run of the season.  It was his first career home run batting right handed.  Freese would single in another run in the seventh inning.
• The bullpen did a wonderful job tonight shutting down the Yankees.  Over 5.1 innings, the combination of Juan Nicasio, Felipe Rivero, Daniel Hudson, and Tony Watson allowed four hits and zero walks while striking out three.  Things got a little dicey in the eighth inning with runners on second and third but Hudson was able get out of the jam by striking out pinch hitter Matt Holliday.

Throwaways

• Glasnow did not get much help from the defense as second baseman Josh Harrison whiffed on a ground ball in the fifth inning, letting two unearned runs score.  It wasn’t the easiest play in the world, but it was still a play Harrison can make.  Osuna bobbled a ball in right field, allowing the Yankees to score their first run.  If fielded cleanly and quickly, the Pirates would have had a solid chance at gunning down the runner at home.  Freese juggled a ground ball in the eighth inning to give the Pirates three errors for the night.  
• Francisco Cervelli and Gregory Polanco were the only two Pirate starters to not get a hit tonight although Polanco did walk twice.  On the season, Cervelli is batting .212.  Polanco is batting .239.

Line Of the Day

David Freese went 2-4 with two RBI singles.

W- Juan Nicasio (1-2, 2.57 ERA) L- CC Sabathia (2-1, 2.70 ERA) S- Tony Watson (5, 1.29 ERA)

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#Pirates open series over #Yankees with a 6-3 win. Who was your Player of the Game?

— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) April 22, 2017

Up Next

Jameson Taillon will face off against Michael Pineda tomorrow afternoon at 4:05 pm.  The Pirates will look to advance to 8-0 on weekend games.  April baseball is weird.