Kershaw returned to the mound for the eighth inning, only to give up a double to Gregory Polanco.
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Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Francisco Liriano throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles, Saturday, September 19, 2015. Los Angeles narrowed the deficit to 4-2 in the seventh on first baseman Scott Van Slyke’s solo homer, his sixth of the season.Bolsinger (6-4) allowed five hits, including two home runs, three walks and three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.
The New York Mets pitching rotation is scary good and in the playoffs it could be the best among the National League teams.
“You know it’s going to be a really tough game because Zack has been throwing so great all year, but those are the type of games I want to pitch”, Locke said”. But experience does help.
“We’ve played pretty good here [at Citi Field]”. Marte has seen an average of 3.6 pitches per at-bat against left-handers, according to Fangraphs, though his walk rate against them (3.4 percent) is half what is was in 2014.
“At the end of the day, we’ve had athletes who have made above-average plays”, Hurdle said, “and we’ve had athletes who haven’t handled balls they’ve handled in the past with the consistency we’d like”. The Pirates’ fourth straight loss, coupled with St. Louis’ 8-3 defeat to the Cubs, kept Pittsburgh five games behind the Cardinals in the Central Division. It was the Dodgers’ second loss in a row, keeping their magic number to clinch the NL West at seven after the San Francisco Giants’ victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Quality Kershaw: Saturday’s outing was another quality start at home for Kershaw as he went seven-plus innings and allowed three runs (a quality start is six or more innings and three or fewer earned runs allowed).
Mike Bolsinger will start the series finale against the Pirates on Sunday, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said before Friday’s series opener at Dodger Stadium. He works to both sides of the plate. “His change-up and slider are coming at you at the back door, at times”.
Kershaw was 9-0 with a 0.98 ERA in his previous 13 starts since losing at Miami on June 27. “The fastball had life. What got him through seven was some grit, some determination and a major-league fastball”.
Tony Watson and Mark Melancon followed with ideal innings of relief, and Melancon got his 48th save in 50 chances.
The Pirates, whose 89-60 record is the second-best in the majors, tied it 2-all in the third when Marte drove a 2-1 pitch halfway up the pavilion seats in left-center for his 17th homer this season. “He’s had some good seasons in his career, and some down seasons”.
Pittsburgh added a run in the fifth to build a 4-2 advantage.
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Pittsburgh Pirates’ Pedro Alvarez points to the sky after hitting a… A, J, Ellis, Adrian Gonzalez, and Howie Kendrick each had hits as the Dodgers scored two runs on five hits. Left fielder Carl Crawford began by hitting a triple off the base of the fence down the right-field line. Cole responded with strikeouts of Chase Utley and Corey Seager, but Andre Ethier singled home the game’s first run.
