Happ, Kang lead Pittsburgh Pirates in 5-4 victory

The Pittsburgh Pirates received another solid start from J.A. Happ and Jung Ho Kang connected for his first grand slam in the MLB in their 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. Happ struck out ten and walked none in his fifth win as a Pirate.

The Pirates manufactured a quick run in the first inning. After Gregory Polanco started the game with a double, he moved to third on a sacrifice in the infield by Starling Marte. Andrew McCutchen brought Polanco in with a sacrifice fly to center field. The Reds tied the game in the second off of a solo home run by Todd Frazier.

Pittsburgh attacked Keyvius Sampson for four more runs in the sixth inning when Kang hit a grand slam for his 15th home run of the season. Polanco began the inning with a single and stole second. After McCutchen walked, Aramis Ramirez added another single to load the bases. Kang cleared the bases with a blast into left field to give the Pirates a four run lead.

Happ allowed a ground rule double to Joey Votto and then saw Brandon Phillips get on base because of an error by Ramirez who was playing just his second career game at first base. Clint Hurdle brought in Joakim Soria, who allowed a sacrifice fly by Frazier to score Votto before ending the inning.

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Tony Watson came in for the eighth inning and did not have his best stuff. Jason Bourgeois singled and Brayan Pena moved him to third with a double. After Billy Hamilton walked to load the bases Ivan De Jesus hit a sacrifice fly to bring the Reds within two runs.

The Pirates caught a huge break in the subsequent at-bat when Votto, after having words with home plate umpire Bill Welke, was tossed from the game and went nuts, spiking his helmet into the ground and getting in the face of Welke. Just for good measure Welke tossed out Bryan Price, who argued with the umpire with the same fiery temper as for former Pirates manager/robot John Russell did during his tenure.

The ninth inning was turned over to Mark Melancon who locked down his MLB leading 44th save of the season. The win puts the Pirates at 83-55 heading into the weekend series with Milwaukee, still four and a half back of St. Louis for the division lead.

What Stood Out

Happ added another great start to his resume since joining the Pirates and if he has another start or two like this he should most definitely be considered for a start in a potential postseason roster. In his short time with the team he has been more consistent that Jeff Locke and perhaps even Charlie Morton. While it may be premature to look at 2016, Happ could be worth bringing back for a year or two if the price is right.

Speaking of the price being right, Kang continues to prove to be an excellent signing by Neil Huntington. He provided almost all the offense tonight and has effectively forced Hurdle’s hand to give him more at-bats than the other infielders that he rotates around with from position to position.

What’s Next

A.J. Burnett will make his return to the Pirate’s rotation on Thursday at 7:05 PM when he takes on Wily Peralta and the Milwaukee Brewers. Burnett was putting together a fantastic final season before three bad outings right after the All-Star break. Most likely hurt during all or some of those starts in mid-July, Burnett will look to solidify the Pittsburgh rotation during the final weeks of the season. Peralta saw his most recent start against Cincinnati cut short due to a rain delay, but he was very good in the start before it (also against Cincinnati) when he limited the Reds to one run over seven innings and did not issue a walk.

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