Mercer belts first grand slam in Pirates’ win
Jordy Mercer hit a grand slam home run Friday night to lift the Pirates to a 5-3 victory over the Brewers at Milwaukee.
The shortstop connected on an 0-2 pitch from Matt Garza for the first slam of his five-year career.
Entering the game, Mercer was 4-for-40 (.100) with batting with an 0-2 count this season with no extra-base hits. The only other players in the major leagues this season to hit grand slams on an 0-2 count are the San Diego Padres鈥� Alex Dickerson on May 10, the Seattle Mariners鈥� Seth Smith on July 3 and the Chicago White Sox蘑菇视频 Adam Eaton on Aug. 17.
The last Pirates player to hit a slam on an 0-2 count was Jack Wilson on July 9, 2005, off the New York Mets鈥� Danny Graves at PNC Park.
Mercer is a career .149 hitter on 0-2 counts with two homers in 435 plate appearances.
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Center fielder Andrew McCutchen蘑菇视频 RBI single in the 10th inning gave the Pirates a 3-2 win over the Brewers on Thursday night.
McCutchen entered the game 0-for-8 in extra innings this season. The only players with more extra-inning at-bats without a hit this season were the Toronto Blue Jays鈥� Devon Travis (0-for-10), the Philadelphia Phillies鈥� Maikel Franco (0-for-9) and the Washington Nationals鈥� Ryan Zimmerman (0-for-9).
Over his nine-year career, McCutchen has hit .255 with five home runs in extra innings in 123 plate appearances.
Second baseman Josh Harrison is the Pirates鈥� best hitter in extra innings this season, going 4-for-9 with two doubles.
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The Pirates are 51-22 when leading after four innings this season. Their .699 winning percentage in those situations rank seventh in the National League and 13th in the major leagues.
When trailing after four innings, the Pirates are 13-39 for .250 winning percentage. That ranks fifth in the NL and 11th in the majors.
The Chicago Cubs (72-21) have the best record in the major leagues when leading after four innings and the Atlanta Braves (34-33) have the worst. The Texas Rangers (19-33) have the best record when trailing after the four innings and the Nationals (6-32) have the worst.