Pittsburgh Pirates Defeat San Diego Padres on Alvarez’s Walk off Single

In yet another game when the fans had to wait out the rain to get the game started, they were rewarded with another terrific outing from first time All Star

. Burnett made it into the eighth inning and would have probably finished it had home plate umpire Paul Emmels not made a bad call on a supposed foul tip. He did not get the win, but the Pittsburgh Pirates pulled it out and won 2-1 over the San Diego Padres on

‘s walk off single. The win puts the Pirates at 48-34, a season high 14 games over .500.

The Padres scored their lone run in the top of the second inning when Alexi Amarista hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Yonder Alonso. The Pirates were able to limit the damage to just one run even though the Padres had the bases loaded when the inning ended.

The two teams traded scoreless innings from the second inning until the seventh when the Pirates got the run back. Five time All Star (and first time All Star starter) Andrew McCutchen doubled to left. With two outs in the inning Shields hit Francisco Cervelli. Alvarez hit a ground ball to Yangervis Solarte, whose throwing error to first allowed him to be safe and McCutchen to score and tie the game.

In the eight inning Burnett picked Melvin Upton Jr. off at first for the second out of the inning. In the subsequent at bat against Derek Norris, Burnett got him to chase a pitch in the dirt. Home plate Paul Emmels ruled it a foul tip, even though replays showed that he clearly did not make contact. These types of calls cannot be reviewed so the at bat continued. Norris and Solarte both singled, knocking Burnett out of the game. Tony Watson was brought in and struck out Matt Kemp to end the inning.

Jared Hughes pitched the ninth and allowed two singles but no runs were scored. In the bottom of the ninth, McCutchen walked and Jung Ho Kang singled to put him in scoring position. With two outs and facing a 3-2 pitch, Alvarez knocked to right field and scored McCutchen, securely the win for the Pirates.

What Stood Out

On the night that he found out he would be an All Star for the first time in his career, Burnett tossed a great outing and showed that he is deserving of the recognition. He went deep into the game and would have finished eight innings had the home plate umpire made the correct call. He’ll take a 1.99 ERA into his next start.

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Alvarez also deserves to be mentioned for coming through with a hit when the team needed it. In a night when the offense wasn’t really clicking (they only totaled five hits on the night), he picked them up in the final inning of the game. One of the other hits belonged to Kang, who will receive the bulk of the playing time at third now with

out for six weeks. Kang especially could use this as an opportunity to show management he deserves more playing time even when Harrison is healthy.

What’s Next

The three game series continues tonight when Tyson Ross and Francisco Liriano face off at 7:05pm. In his last four starts Ross has walked five batters in three of them, so a patient approach could work in Pittsburgh’s favor. He lost to the Pirates back on May 30th when he gave up just three runs (two earned). Liriano shut out Detroit his last time out and limited Atlanta to just two runs in the outing before that.

Next: Pittsburgh Pirates Lose Josh Harrison for Six Weeks to Thumb Injury