Harrison walk-off gives Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6 win over Brewers in extras

On Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates looked to clinch the weekend series against the rival Milwaukee Brewers. In the series finale, the Pirates sent out left-handed starting pitcher Francisco Liriano (10-7, 3.45 ERA) only lasted 2 1/3 innings while allowing five runs (four earned) off seven hits, while striking out four and only allowing two free passes on the base-paths.

The Pirates were down early 5-1 to the Brewers, but with a strong fourth and seventh innings, Pittsburgh managed to tie the game at six-all heading into extra innings. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Josh Harrison hit a walk-off RBI single to win the game a final score of 7-6.

The first two scores of the game came on plays to Liriano. In the top of the first inning, Milwaukee’s Jason Rogers hit an infield single to Liriano, scoring Jean Segura, but then on the same play, Ryan Braun scored on a Liriano throwing error to give the Brewers the early 2-0 lead.

A Pedro Alvarez solo shot in the bottom of the the second inning looked to be a bright spot for the Pirates, but a Khris Davis two-run homer, and a Elian Herrera RBI double gave the Brewers’ the 5-1 lead, chasing Liriano in the top of the third inning.

A Hernan Perez RBI single to center field in the top of the fourth inning gave Milwaukee the early 6-1 advantage, but the Pirates looked poised to walk the comeback trail.

The Pittsburgh comeback started in the bottom of the fourth inning, when they scored three runs on big RBIs from Travis Snider and Jordy Mercer.

Later, in the bottom of the seventh, the Pirates tied the game at six-all from two RBI singles off the bats of Andrew McCutchen and Jung Ho Kang.

In the bottom of the 11th inning, Harrison hit a walk-off single to left field, scoring Pedro Florimon, to give the Pirates the 7-6 win.

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What Stood Out

On the negative side, the Brewers chased Francisco Liriano after 2 1/3 innings, as Liriano has suffered through a couple of rough months after a great first half of the season.

On the positive side for the Pirates, Pittsburgh continued to use the “big inning” to pile on runs, as they did in this game by plating three in the fourth inning and two in the seventh.

What’s Next

On Tuesday night, the Pirates start a four-game series against Chicago Cubs in a double-header at PNC Park. In game one of the series, Pittsburgh will send out Gerrit Cole (16-8, 2.54 ERA), who will face Cubs’ starter Jon Lester (9-10, 3.50 ERA). Last time out, Cole dominated the Cardinals with seven innings of no-run ball. First pitch for game one, which is the makeup of a previous rain-delayed game, is scheduled for 1:35 PM.

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