Pittsburgh Pirates win wild game vs Orioles

The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t been making things easy on themselves. With mediocre pitching and inconsistent batting, the Pirates find themselves near last place in the NL Central. It’s a young season though and with games like last night’s, this team shouldn’t be counted out just yet. After a wild first two innings that saw 14 runs combined scored, the Pirates settled down enough to hold on and win the game 9-8.

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After getting shelled 9-2 on Tuesday night, the Pirates needed a big outing from their starting pitcher. For one inning anyway, they got it. After blanking the Orioles in the first inning, the Pirates held a 4-0 lead that quickly turned into a 6-4 hole thanks to the typically putrid pitching of veteran Wandy Rodriguez. After two innings though, the Pirates bats had prevailed for an 8-6 lead. From there, the game would tighten until Tony Sanchez’s 7th inning single that broke an 8-8 tie.

The game was the Pirates’ third win in their last nine games. That stretch followed one in which the team won four straight. Mark Melancon made his seventh save of the year as the Pirates pulled to 19-26. They start a four game home stand against the Washington Nationals tonight at 7:05PM. The Orioles meanwhile will look to regroup as they prepare for a series against the Cleveland Indians.