Pittsburgh Pirates Win Third Consecutive Game

PITTSBURGH, PA - AUGUST 07: Andrew McCutchen
PITTSBURGH, PA - AUGUST 07: Andrew McCutchen /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Pittsburgh Pirates have now won three consecutive games

On Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Detroit Tigers by the score of 6-3. With the win, the Bucs improved to 55-56 on the season. Also, they finished their 8 game homestand with a 5-3 record.

Chad Kuhl started for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. Kuhl turned in another strong start to help power the Pirates to their third consecutive victory. With the win, the Pirates are now 6-7 in interleague play.

The bottom of the 2nd inning started with a Jordy Mercer double. Then with 2 outs, Starling Marte singled to score Mercer. This made the score 1-0 Pirates.

The Bucs would add to their lead in the bottom of the 4th inning.

Andrew McCutchen led off the inning with his 23rd home run of the season to make the score 2-0 Pirates. After singles by David Freese and Sean Rodriguez and a Francisco Cervelli, the bases were loaded with 2 outs for pitcher Chad Kuhl.

More from Rum Bunter

Chad Kuhl came through with a dying duck bloop hit to left field. This scored Freese and Rodriguez, gave Kuhl his first career RBIs, and extended the Pirate lead to 4-0.

With Kuhl cruising along and dominating the Tigers, the Pirate lead grew in the bottom of the 5th inning.

Josh Harrison and Andrew McCutchen hit back-to-back singles to start the inning putting runners on the corners. A wild pitch then advanced McCutchen to second base.

David Freese then singled through a drawn in infield to score Harrison. This made the score 5-0 Pirates, and it chased Detroit starter Matthew Boyd from the game.

Edward Mujica would replace Boyd to face pinch hitter Josh Bell. An error by Tiger third baseman Nick Castellanos allowed Bell to reach base, loading the bases with no one out.

After Mujica struck out Sean Rodriguez, Jordy Mercer hit a sacrifice fly to score McCutchen. This extended the Pirate lead to 6-0 after 5 innings of play.

After dominating the Tigers through 5 innings, Chad Kuhl ran into trouble in the top of the 6th inning.

After allowing back-to-back singles to start the inning, Kuhl allowed a run scoring double to Jim Aducci to cut the Pirate lead to 6-1. Then with 1 out, Kuhl threw a wild pitch and allowed a sacrifice fly to Miguel Cabrera. This made the score 6-3 Pirates.

In 6 innings pitched on Tuesday night Chad Kuhl allowed 3 runs on 5 hits, a walk, and 6 strikeouts. With each start Kuhl continues to improve and become a more reliable member of the bullpen.

A.J. Schugel took over for Kuhl in the top of the 7th inning. Schugel retired the Tigers in order and he needed just 7 pitches to do so. Schugel continues to be a very undervalued member of the Pirate bullpen.

George Kontos pitched in his second Pirate game in the 8th inning. Like Schugel in the 7th inning, Kontos retired the Tigers in order in the 8th. He needed just 6 pitches to accomplish this.

In the top of the 9th inning the Pirates turned to Felipe Rivero. After struggling against the Padres on Sunday, Rivero would bounce back on Tuesday night. He retired the Tigers in order in the top of the 9th inning, and recorded a strikeout.

Next: Six Players to Watch at Low-A

Tomorrow night this series moves to Comerica Park in Detroit. Due to this, the designated hitter will be in each team’s lineup the next two nights. Ivan Nova is scheduled to start for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, while Justin Verlander is slated to get the ball for Detroit. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM.

facebooktwitterreddit