Disputed dinger tames Tigers

Corey Dickerson celebrated his first game-ending home run in the major leagues. Twice. Dickerson’s disputed one-out drive in the ninth inning lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Detroit Tigers 1-0 on Thursday.

He sent an 0-1 slider from Alex Wilson (0-1) just over the 21-foothigh wall in right field, at first standing at the plate and watching the drive before starting to jog up the first-base line. A fan in a black Pirates sweatshirt reached out and caught the ball, and Wilson immediately pointed to ask for a video review of the initial home-run call. “It looked like it got out enough, but you never know,” Dickerson said.

Dickerson rounded third base, rolled his helmet toward the plate and was mobbed by teammates, with Adam Frazier dumping a jug of Gatorade over him. Nearly two minutes later, the home run call was upheld and the Pirates exchanged more hugs. It was just the second home run of the season for Dickerson, who was obtained from Tampa Bay during spring training. “These guys in the clubhouse have been great,” Dickerson said. “I feel really comfortable here.” Felipe Vazquez (1-0) escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the ninth created by two singles and a walk. Third baseman Colin Moran fielded a hot shot from James McCann and threw home for a force out, Victor Martinez popped out and Jose Iglesias hit a ground ball that was snagged on a diving play by shortstop Sean Rodriguez, who tossed it to second to end the inning.

“I thought our defence showed up extremely well today,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. Ivan Nova pitched eight scoreless innings and allowed six hits while striking out five. He got 13 outs on ground balls. Detroit’s Michael Fulmer struck out nine in six innings while giving up four hits.

Leonys Martin was 2 for 4 with a triple and also reached on an error and went 5 for 14 (.357) in the series with two home runs and three RBIs

MAKING MOVES

Detroit re-called RHP Johnny Barbato from Triple-A Toledo, where he had a 1.17 ERA in six games with nine strikeouts and three walks in 7 2/3 innings.

UP NEXT

Tigers: RHP Mike Fiers (2-1, 3.71 ERA) opens a three-game series at Baltimore on Friday. He beat Kansas City on Sunday.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli takes the throw from third baseman Colin Moran to force out Detroit’s Dixon Machado during the top of ninth inning on Thursday in Pittsburgh. Corey Dickerson’s solo shot in the home half of the inning gave the Pirates...