Gerrit Cole, Pedro Alvarez Lead Pittsburgh Pirates To 82nd Win

Raise the Jolly Roger.  The National Nightmare is over, Pittsburgh Pirates fans.  Neil Walker fielded the ground ball and tossed it to first base in Arlington, Texas and the team has escaped their 20-year prison sentence.  The Bucs had won their 82nd game.

Our season opening photo shop poster for the Pittsburgh Pirates 2013 season was the Walking Dead season three poster.

We think it’s fitting that winning 82 games would result in the upcoming Walking Dead season four photo shop.

The Pirates escape 20 years of losing. (Walking Dead inspired)

Gerrit Cole put the Pirates on his back and refused to allow Texas to get on the board, chalking up eight strikeouts over seven innings.  Cole matched the celebrated Yu Darvish pitch for pitch.

It was a sign of the bright future the Pirates have ahead.  Cole was dominant, and it was fitting in a season that the Bucs relied so heavily on the pitching staff.

Pedro Alvarez drove a Yu Darvish pitch into left-center field for a double, which allowed Marlon Byrd to race home to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead.

Mark Melancon and Tony Watson shut down Texas in the eighth and ninth innings, giving Gerrit Cole the win.  It was Cole’s seventh – and without question – the biggest of his lifetime, and also the biggest win in a lot of Pirates fans’ lives.  Cole was four days old the last time the Bucs won 82 games.

Earlier today, we felt the 82nd win was coming.  We told you it was coming.  We wrote that it was coming.  Unfortunately, the tweets were mostly negative.  We get it.  Just listen to us next time.

After the game Andrew McCutchen said that the win feels good, but the team is looking “way past that.  It feels good to get the 82nd win out of the way.”

Before the game Pirates manager Clint Hurdle, who had some seriously interesting decisions last night, said he was “open minded to Cole’s role in the postseason.”

Umm…

++++++++++++++++++

As you know, Walking Dead has inspired a few photoshops over the years.

Let’s Go, Bucs!