The Pirates opened the first inning with six straight hits off Musgrove.
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The 23-year-old gave up only one run in 11 1/3 innings in first two games, one a start and the other a relief appearance. Joyce scored the Pirates seventh run in the seventh on a throwing error by Alex Bregman, who had moved to shortstop from third base that inning. He had surrendered three runs combined across his previous two starts while going seven innings in each.Musgrove seemed to settle in the second inning Tuesday, retiring the Pirates in order, but let one get away from him to Polanco in the third. The stagnant offense watched the top three hitters go 0-for-12 with five strikeouts on Monday as the Pirates fell 3 1/2 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second NL wild card. He lost his lone career start against the Pirates in 2012 as a rookie with the New York Mets, getting tagged for seven runs in 1 1/3 innings.
Musgrove was hammered for eight runs on 11 hits over 5 1/3 innings in a loss to the Orioles last Thursday. Matt Joyce and Andrew McCutchen hit consecutive RBI doubles, then Polanco and Bell drove in runs with singles. “What is it?” general manager Neal Huntington said.
Houston’s four-game losing streak came to an end after the Astros were unable to overcome an early deficit.
“I mentioned to our offensive coordinator Jeff Branson that I liked the way he scripted his first 20 plays”, manager Clint Hurdle said, using an appropriate football reference. He’s got to learn to battle himself through his first back-to-back games of adversity. George Springer has hit 131 times with 93 runs, 25 homers and 72 RBI. He was only challenged by Marwin Gonzalez, who recorded three hits. I fell behind the next guy and he cranked a pitch out.
– Yankees young slugger Gary Sanchez hit his eighth homer since August 10 – the most in Major League Baseball in that span. Sanchez has now hit more homers than any Yankee in his first 19 career games.
Astros: 3B Luis Valbuena will undergo surgery in the next few days to fix a torn tendon in his right hamstring. OF Preston Tucker (strained right shoulder) is likely to begin a rehab assignment this weekend. 3B/OF Yulieski Gurriel (right hamstring tightness) did not start for a second straight game after making his major league debut Sunday but is expected to be in the lineup Wednesday.
Royals (64-60) at Marlins (65-59), 7:10 p.m. ET: Looking for their eighth consecutive win, the Royals send Yordano Ventura (8-9, 4.46 ERA) to the mound looking to stay hot.
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Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova (9-6, 4.83) is 2-1 with a 4.41 ERA in three starts since being acquired August 1 from the New York Yankees in a trade.
