It’s short and very sweet
Pirates grab both ends of two-game series, get first hit of season with bases loaded
ARLINGTON, Texas — An extra-inning win Tuesday night broke an eight-game losing skid for the Pirates. Wednesday afternoon, they ended another bad streak en route to a 7-5 win and two-game sweep of the Texas Rangers.
Melky Cabrera’s single off Rangers starter Shelby Miller, which drove in Starling Marte in the fourth inning, was the Pirates’ first of the season with the bases loaded. Until then, they were 0 for 16 with two walks, five strikeouts and three RBIs.
“We were able to take advantage of some nice situations today,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We had some clutch hitting. It’s something we continue to talk about and try to work through. It showed up for us in several places today.”
Cabrera, who had two hits, extended his hitting streak to eight games. Bryan Reynolds, who has a hit in each of the first nine games of his big-league career, then drove in Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell and Cabrera with a double to left to give the Pirates a 4-1
lead in the fourth inning.
Rangers left fielder Joey Gallo hit his 11th home run of the year and second in the series off a Jameson Taillon fastball that caught too much of the plate in the sixth.
“It was supposed to be inside,” Taillon said. “I think it got in but it wasn’t off the plate in. We saw what he did on 99 mph yesterday and I don’t throw 99 so I have to be sure to get it where I want it.”
Taillon was referring to Gallo’s 11th-inning home run against Felipe Vazquez Tuesday.
Marte drove in Elias Diaz with a double off reliever Kyle Dowdy in the seventh. Polanco followed with a double that scored Marte and built a 6-2 lead.
Polanco believes that he and Marte getting clutch hits in the same inning is an omen.
“It’s going to be fun to watch as we get back together,” Polanco said. “We have some talent on this team. Getting a couple of wins was essential. We came to Texas and left the past in the past.”
First baseman Danny Santana homered off Taillon on the first pitch in the seventh. It was the first time Taillon had given up multiple homers in a game since Aug. 31, 2018, against the Atlanta Braves.
Taillon went 6⅓ innings, striking out five.
“I thought it was a solid outing,” Hurdle said. “He gave us the outing we needed
After Taillon was pulled, Richard Rodriguez gave up a two-run home run to ShinSoo Choo to bring the Rangers within one run, 6-5. But once again, the Pirates had an answer.
Cabrera, hitting .341 this season, led off the eighth with a walk, and Diaz later singled in pinch-runner JB Shuck to push the Pirates’ lead to 7-5.
“It was important to score that run to make it easier on the bullpen,” Shuck said. “I got a good read on the ball and I was going. I wanted to be aggressive and force them to make a play.”
Kyle Crick, from nearby Fort Worth, pitched a scoreless eighth, giving him a triumphant homecoming by throwing clean innings in two pressure situations in the short series.
“He continues to help us out in a couple of different ways,” Hurdle said. “He has really good stuff. He has a plus fastball with some life. The breaking ball is real. He went through a tough part of the order with efficiency. A wonderful effort by him to get us to [Felipe]Vazquez.”
In the ninth, Vazquez had runners on second and third with one out, but he struck out Choo and Hunter Pence to end the game.
The win pushed the Pirates’ record to 14-14.