Pittsburgh 10, Atlanta 8
When: 7:35 PM ET, Friday, June 5, 2015
Where: Turner Field, Atlanta, Georgia
Temperature:
83°
Umpires:
Home -
Tripp Gibson, 1B -
Adam Hamari, 2B -
Mark Carlson, 3B -
Brian Gorman
Attendance:
27508
By The Sports Xchange
ATLANTA -- For most of his career, Pittsburgh left fielder Starling Marte has found his named penciled in the fourth or fifth spot in the lineup. But after his success on Friday batting second, he may not want to move.
Marte, hitting in front of slugger Andrew McCutchen for the first time this season, ended an 0-for-21 slump with a two-run homer to spark the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 10-8 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday at Turner Field.
"We just wanted him to sit at a different seat at the dinner table," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said, hinting that Marte will likely soon be hitting in his old familiar spot.
The struggling left fielder hit an 0-1 pitch from left-handed reliever Luis Avilan (2-1) for an opposite field homer to right, his team-leading 11th, to break a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning and put the Pirates ahead to stay.
"It was location," Avilan said. "That guy has really good power and he hit a mistake."
Marte was 2-for-3 with two walks and scored three runs and the Pirates won their fourth straight and 12th in the last 14.
"He got to see a lot of pitches tonight, which was one of my hopes, and he had better balance at the plate," Hurdle said. "I've used that two-hole for a lot of different guys."
The beneficiary of Marte's home run was Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton (3-0), who had been lifted for a pinch hitter earlier in the inning. Morton pitched five innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits and three walks, with one strikeout.
"Charlie battled through not having his best stuff and they kept chipping him," Hurdle said. "But he kept away from a big inning."
Pittsburgh closer Mark Melancon survived some ninth-inning drama to earn his 17th save. Melancon surrendered an RBI single to second baseman Pedro Ciriaco after his throwing error on a potential game-ending double-play ball up the middle -- the Pirates fourth error of the game -- but induced pinch hitter Joey Terdoslavich into a game-ending double play.
Atlanta starter Williams Perez struggled with wildness for five innings. The rookie allowed four runs on five hits and five walks, with five strikeouts.
The Atlanta bullpen, which ranks last in the National League in ERA, allowed six runs over the final four innings. Brandon Cunniff was untouched in two-thirds of an inning, but the Pirates scored two against Avilan, three against Trevor Cahill and one against Nick Masset.
"When your starter doesn't go deep, you kind of get exposed," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We had five opportunities to get a shutdown inning and only converted four of them. Those are big innings."
Pittsburgh had 14 hits, with catcher Francisco Cervelli collecting the second four-hit game of his career. Second baseman Neal Walker hit his fourth homer, a three-run shot in the fifth inning that put the Pirates ahead for the first time.
"We were able to find ways to add on against their bullpen with some big swings," Hurdle said. "Marte with a big swing, Walker with a big swing and we basically needed every run we got tonight. It was a bit of a boat race for both teams."
Atlanta lost its third straight game, despite accumulating 22 runs during that stretch. The Braves had 14 hits on Friday, with center fielder Cameron Maybin getting three of them. The Braves have scored at least six runs in six straight games.
"The great thing about our club is we keep battling back," Gonzalez said. "We had a chance (in the ninth inning) to win the ball game if someone hits one out of the ballpark. This is a big league game and big boys are playing and I think anyone who came up could have."
NOTES: Pittsburgh lost a video challenge in the fifth inning. Manager Clint Hurdle argued that Atlanta 1B Freddie Freeman was out at second trying to stretch a single. After a review of 2 minutes, 10 seconds, the call
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
| Pittsburgh |
|
Atlanta |
|
Charlie Morton |
Player |
Williams Perez
|
|
Win |
W/L |
No Decision |
|
5.0 |
IP |
5.0 |
|
1 |
Strikeouts |
5 |
|
7 |
Hits |
5 |
|
5.40 |
ERA |
7.20 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Pittsburgh
|
13 |
2 |
20 |
.333 |
16 |
8 |
9 |
5 |
2 |
4 |
| Atlanta
|
14 |
0 |
16 |
.350 |
26 |
6 |
7 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
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