First-place Pirates edge Twins, 5-4, in home opener
Associated Press
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jameson Taillon delivers a pitch in the fifth inning to Minnesota Twins鈥� Jason Castro (15) during the Pirates鈥� 2017 home opener.
Associated Press
The Pirates鈥� Colin Moran (center) has his helmet removed by Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco after hitting a grand slam off Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Lance Lynn in the first inning of the Pirates鈥� home opener Monday in Pittsburgh.
PITTSBURGH 鈥� It蘑菇视频 only four games, but Pittsburgh is in first place in the National League Central following a 5-4 victory over Minnesota on Monday afternoon in the home opener at PNC Park.
The Pirates have won their last five home openers. Pittsburgh蘑菇视频 last setback on opening day at PNC Park was a 3-1 loss in 2013 to the Chicago Cubs.
鈥淲e had some guys continue to grow, cut some teeth, battle through adversity and we won as a team,鈥� Bucs manager Clint Hurdle said.
Pittsburgh swept Detroit in the opening series, and are one game ahead of Milwaukee in the division standings. The Brewers lost to St. Louis, 8-4, after sweeping San Diego in their first series.
鈥淚t is too early to get caught up in all that kind of stuff,鈥� Hurdle said. 鈥淲e are just going to show up and play the game. As I said yesterday in Detroit, 鈥楾he game lets you know where you need to improve.鈥� To score five in the first and hang on and win by one is not the way you draw it up, but it蘑菇视频 the way it happened. I continue to like the fight and the battle. Everybody is putting a little something in.鈥�
The Pirates took advantage of Lance Lynn蘑菇视频 inability to throw strikes in the first inning, and Colin Moran put an exclamation point on the inning with a grand slam to right field on a 3-2 pitch with two outs. Lynn threw a fastball and Moran tattooed it 405 feet into the stands above the Clemente Wall for a 5-0 lead.
鈥淚 was just trying to work the count and get a good pitch to hit,鈥� Moran said. 鈥淚 knew that he (Lynn) was going to have to come to me when he was down 3-0, shrink the zone, and get a good pitch to hit, which I did.鈥�
鈥漌ith the bases loaded, you are just trying to put a good swing on the ball. It was a good feeling to be able to hit a grand slam in my first at-bat here on opening day.鈥�
The Twins (2-2) rallied for four runs in the sixth, but couldn鈥檛 score the game-tying run. George Kontos pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second-career save.
Moran, who was acquired in the Gerrit Cole trade to Houston, was encouraged by the 30,186 in attendance and his teammates for a curtain call, and the Bucs鈥� third baseman obliged.
鈥淭he coolest part of that whole thing was my teammates鈥� reaction and the crowd蘑菇视频 reaction,鈥� Moran said. 鈥淭hat was probably the coolest thing I鈥檝e ever experienced on the baseball field. To do that was fun.鈥�
Moran received a different reaction, at least from his Astros teammates, when he hit his first-career homer last season at Baltimore and was given the 鈥渟ilent treatment.鈥�
Pittsburgh had just two hits in its five-run first. Josh Harrison walked to lead off the inning, and scored on Gregory Polanco蘑菇视频 double for a 1-0 lead. Starling Marte walked, and after Lynn struck out Josh Bell and got Corey Dickerson to bounce out to first base, Francisco Cervelli walked to set the stage for Moran. Polanco walked three times, in the second, fourth, seventh and eighth innings, with one being intentional.
Jameson Taillon (1-0, 3.38 ERA) matched a career-high with nine strikeouts in picking up the win after going 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander allowed two earned runs on four hits without issuing a walk. Taillon recorded nine strikeouts for the second time in his career after throwing 95 pitches (51 strikes).
鈥淚 am kind of throttling the four-seam and two-seam fastball better than I have in the past,鈥� Taillon said. 鈥淚t is not just one or the other. On any given day, it蘑菇视频 going to be both. I think I became a little one-dimensional last year, and that doesn鈥檛 really work at this level. I am trying to be four different locations with the fastball, and two different fastballs.
鈥淚 am a lot cleaner and more directional, and so far, so good. I walked too many last year, and a goal of mine has been to not walk guys, especially in certain situations. They (Minnesota) are a pretty deep team and have a good lineup. That is going to be a team to watch this year. This win says a lot about the fight in these guys and the character of our team.鈥�
The opening-day start was special for Taillon just like any other MLB player, but the Pirates鈥� 2010 first-round draft pick (second overall) relished the opportunity following many roadblocks along the way, including being diagnosed with testicular cancer mid-season last year.
鈥淚 was definitely more nervous before the game,鈥� Taillon said. 鈥淲aking up this morning I had some nerves. My heart rate was probably sitting a little higher than normal. I felt better once I started to throw. It was an honor to pitch in this game, and I had fun out there.鈥�
Taillon was throwing a two-hit shutout through the first five, but after striking out pinch hitter Robbie Grossman looking, he gave up a home run down the left-field line to Brian Dozier to get Minnesota on the scoreboard. Taillon was taken out following Joe Mauer蘑菇视频 single to left.
Edgar Santana came in for Taillon, but gave up two hits and two runs. Josh Smoker, Dovydas Neverauskas and Michael Feliz also pitched. Neverauskas and Feliz earned their second holds this year before Kontos shut things down in the ninth.
鈥淚 think I knew I had a short leash out there with an off-day coming tomorrow,鈥� Taillon said. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 afraid to run through guys. I had a good idea. I still felt really good, but I kind of knew.鈥�
Lynn (0-1, 11.25 ERA) settled down after the first, but still took the loss. The former Cardinal allowed five earned runs on three hits in four innings. He had three strikeouts, but walked six in throwing 95 pitches (51 strikes). Lynn only gave up a Jordy Mercer single in the fourth after the disastrous start.
NOTES: Mercer left the game after the fifth due to an injured hand. He was replaced by Sean Rodriguez 鈥� Former Pirate Zach Duke pitched 2/3 of an inning in relief. The lefty walked and struck out two batters 鈥� Following today蘑菇视频 off day, the series finale is Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. with Ivan Nova (0-0, 3.60 ERA) facing Jake Odorizzi (0-0, 0.00 ERA).