Pittsburgh Pirates Walked Off By Atlanta Braves At 1:54 AM

Tuesday night the Pittsburgh Pirates lost in a crazy affair in Atlanta

The Pittsburgh Pirates are now 20-26 this season. Following a 3 hour and 12 minute rain delay, the Pirates were walked off by the Atlanta Braves by a score of 6-5 on Tuesday night. The Pirates have now lost the first 2 games of this 4 game series.

The Pirates appeared to have this game won multiple times on Tuesday night. First, it did not appear the game would resume after the rain delay. Then, the Pirates had a lead with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning. However, leaving runners on base and struggles from Tony Watson would prove to be the undoing of the Pirates on Tuesday night.

In the top of the 1st inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates would take a 1-0 lead.

Adam Frazier walked and Josh Harrison singled to start the inning. Then, Andrew McCutchen hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

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However, Josh Bell came through with a RBI double to make it 1-0 Pirates. Francisco Cervelli then reached on an infield hit, after which things got crazy.

John Jaso hit a dribbler that Atlanta catcher Kurt Suzuki fielded. He tagged Bell for the third out of the inning. However, Clint Hurdle and the Pirates felt Bell was not given a lane in the base line. Home plate umpire Nic Lentz saw things differently and ejected Hurdle. This was Hurdle’s second ejection in as many nights.

The Pirates added to their lead in the top of the 3rd inning. With 2 outs, Josh Bell walked and Francisco Cervelli was hit by a pitch. John Jaso then recorded a base hit to make it 2-0 Pirates.

Tyler Glasnow collected a 1-out single, his second hit of the game, in the top of the 4th inning. This was followed by Adam Frazier’s second walk, Josh Harrison’s second hit, and the bases were loaded with just 1 out. At this point, the Pittsburgh Pirates appeared to be in business as Andrew McCutchen stepped to the plate.

Unfortunately, McCutchen’s struggles would continue. He would hit into a 5-3 double play to end the inning. This was his second double play of the game.

The Braves would finally break through against Pirate starter Tyler Glasnow in the bottom of the 4th inning.

To start the inning, Matt Adams doubled. His double was greatly aided by Andrew McCutchen, though. It was a ball that should have been cut off to hold Adams to a single, if not caught, that McCutchen badly misplayed.

This was followed by a Kurt Suzuki single that cut the Pirate lead to 2-1. After a strikeout and a fielder’s choice, Glasnow allowed a single to his mound opponent R.A. Dickey.

This brought Ender Inciarte to the plate. He entered this at-bat 7 for his last 7 with a walk. However, Glasnow got him to fly out to left field to end the inning.

John Jaso would remain hot in the top of the 5th inning with a 2-out double. Alen Hanson would then ground out to shortstop to end the inning. This ran the Pirate left on base totals to 8 men.

Jordy Mercer hit his third home run of the season to start the top of the 6th inning. This made it 3-1 Pirates.

Tyler Glasnow and Josh Harrison would each collect their third hit of the game later in the inning. However, McCutchen would fly out to end the inning.

Matt Adams would return the favor when he hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the 6th inning. This was followed by a Kurt Suzuki single. However, Tyler Glasnow was able to get a pair of ground balls to get out of it.

Tuesday night proved to be one of the best starts of the season for Glasnow. In 6 innings pitched he allowed just 2 runs on 9 hits, a season low 2 walks (1 of which was intentional), and 4 strikeouts. When he got in trouble, he did a great job of getting out of it as he induced a pair of groundball double plays on Tuesday night. Glasnow also got a strike him out throw him out double play to end the bottom of the 5th inning.

This marked the 4th time in his last 5 starts that Glasnow pitched at least 6 innings while allowed 3 earned runs or less. Throughout the night Tyler Glasnow did a great job of pounding the strike zone and getting ahead of opposing hitters, which is something he does not always do with consistency. Slowly but surely he appears to be turning a corner as a Major League starting pitcher, which is great news for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

At the end of the 6th inning, the game would go into a rain delay. When play resumed at 12:50 in the morning, the Pirate bullpen would run into some trouble. Wade LeBlanc allowed a single to Ender Inciarte, who came around to score on a Brandon Phillips single after advancing to second base on a wild pitch.

Phillips was able to work his way into scoring position before Matt Kemp would deliver a go-ahead single off of Felipe Rivero. This gave the Braves a 4-3 lead after 7 innings.

In the top of the 9th, the Pittsburgh Pirates offense would rally. Josh Bell and Francisco Cervelli hit back-to-back 1-out singles. After John Jaso struck out, pinch-hitter David Freese walked to load the bases. This brought Jordy Mercer to the plate with the bases loaded and 2-outs.

Mercer hung tough against Atlanta closer Jim Johnson. After barely fouling off a few pitches to stay alive, Mercer hit a 2-run bloop single to left field to give the Pirates a 5-4 lead. Mercer finished the night 2-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBI.

Tony Watson struck out Jace Peterson to start the bottom of the 9th inning. Ender Inciarte then reached on an infield hit, which was followed by Brandon Phillips flying out to center field. With 2-outs, Nick Markakis would double home Inciarte to tie the game at 5.

The Pirates would then intentionally walk Matt Kemp to put 2 runners on for Matt Adams. Adams would then rip a base hit to left field to give the Braves a 6-5 victory in a wild game.

Next: Adam Frazier Continues To Defy The Odds

Game 3 of this 4 game series is scheduled for 7:35 PM on Wednesday night. The Pittsburgh Pirates plan to start Trevor Williams, while the Braves plan to hand the ball to Julio Teheran.

Williams is coming off of back-to-back solid starts in which he has allowed 4 earned runs on 8 hits, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings pitched. As for Teheran, he is having the worst season of his Major League career. In 49 1/3 innings pitched he owns a 5.26 FIP, 5.54 xFIP, and is averaging 4.20 BB/9 and 1.46 HR/9. All of these numbers are the worst of Teheran’s career.

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