The Pittsburgh Pirates, who visit the Nationals in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday, have dropped three in a row following a stretch of nine wins in 10 games and are looking for some stability in the starting rotation.
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Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen can’t get a ball that went for a double by Washington Nationals’ Stephen Drew during the second inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 16, 2016, in Washington.
His 13th victory was a reward for that.
The Orioles have won five of six games and the Rays have lost seven straight and a franchise-record 23 of their last 26. The 2015 All-Star allowed five runs – four earned – and seven hits over four innings.
Starling Marte stole the first base of the season off Stephen Strasburg last night, giving the Pirates’ outfielder eight stolen bases in his last seven games.
A bonkers seventh inning provided plenty of run support for the All-Star right-hander. He reached safely because of an error by Pirates first baseman David Freese.
“I pride myself… on going as long as I can and as hard as I can”, Roark said. “It’s hard to live your life wondering if you’re going to get hurt or not”.
With the bases loaded, Roark reached on an infield single to drive in a run and the throw by second baseman Josh Harrison landed in the Washington first-base dugout to allow a second run to score. He allowed no runs and four hits with 12 strikeouts and no walks in eight innings over two rehab starts with Triple-A Indianapolis.
Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle wouldn’t disclose a pitch count, saying “we’ll keep an eye on him”. White Sox starter Miguel Gonzalez (2-5) pitched well through six innings before the Angels knocked him out of the game in the seventh when they batted around and scored five runs.
“Big Robinson, he’s always ready”, Baker said.
Ramirez’s RBI single to left field got the Indians on the board in the fourth inning and his run-scoring single in the sixth gave Cleveland the lead for good. “Clint has been a life saver for us and especially in (Ryan Zimmerman’s) absence”. 500 (56-36) for the first time this season and owns a seven-game lead in the National League East following losses by the New York Mets and Miami Marlins Saturday night. He entered the night with baseball’s lowest hard-hit rate according to FanGraphs and surrendered just five hits to a Pirates offense that was also stifled by Strasburg on Friday.
“I’m excited to be able to play again and hopefully put ourselves in a position to win a ballgame”, Cole said on the eve of his return.
“I just didn’t execute enough pitches”.
Murphy is dealing with left hamstring tightness and was a late scratch from the Nationals’ lineup Friday.
The team listed Murphy as day-to-day. Baker said RHP Joe Ross continues to toss but remains on the DL with no definitive timeline. This is the Pirates’ fourth annual dad’s trip, and nearly 20 fathers of people throughout the organization are taking part. That is clear evidence of both Davey Lopes’ expertise as their first base coach, and manager Dusty Baker’s emphasis on aggressive baserunning. “It’s kind of like revisiting Little League but backwards because then we’ve got to follow our fathers around and make sure they haven’t left stuff behind”.
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The Pittsburgh Pirates announced that Gerrit Cole has been activated from the disabled list for tonight’s start.
