PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Paul Skenes strikes out 10, but the Pirates offense comes up short in a 4-2 Marlins win on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park.
Miami struck first in the top of the second inning. Heriberto Hernández hit a solo home run to left field to give Miami a 1-0 lead. Joe Mack made it 2-0 with a solo blast to center field.
Paul Skenes struck out the side in the 4th inning. He froze Jakob Marsee with a slider that broke from the outside of the strike zone to the inside corner.
The Bucs got runners on the corners with nobody out on a bloop single from Nick Gonzales and a jam shot grounder by Tyler Callihan that rolled to the outfield. Jake Mangum singled home Gonzales to get the Bucs on the board. Max Meyer struck out Jared Triolo, Henry Davis popped up to third and Spencer Horwitz struck out looking to ened the Pirates threat in the 4th.
Pittsburgh loaded the bases with 2 outs in the bottom of the 5th. Mangum lined a hard hit ball to center field but Marsee made a diving catch to strand the bases loaded.
In the top of the 6th, Skenes fanned the side again. He finished the day with 10 punch outs, pitching 6 innings, allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and walked 1.
Henry Davis reached first on a throwing error by Otto López. Meyer struck out Horwitz and Mack threw out Davis trying to steal second to end the 6th. Meyer pitched 6 innings with 9 strikeouts, gave up 1 run on 6 hits and he walked 3.
Evan Sisk entered the game in the 7th for Pittsburgh. Esteury Ruiz pinched hit for the left handed hitting Owen Caissie. Ruiz roped a double to left field to lead off the inning. Sisk picked him off trying to steal third.
Reynolds roped a one out double to right field with one out in the bottom of the seventh. He moved to third as O'hearn grounded out to first for out number two. Gonzales got hit by a pitch and stole second. Callihan struck out to end the inning.
Brandon Bidois entered the game in the eighth inning. After a strikeout of Connor Norby, Miami hit four straight singles and drove in two runs to extend the lead to 4-1. Isaac Mattson entered the game with two outs and the bases loaded. He struck out Marsee swinging with a slider to end the Marlins threat.
Mangum reached on a fielding error by Javier Sonoja to begin the bottom of the eighth, but a fly out to right and double play ended the inning quickly.
Reynolds cranked his 8th home run of the season in the bottom of the ninth but that would be it for the Bucs offense.
Pittsburgh was 3 for 24 with runner in scoring position in the series. They left 26 men on base.
The Pirates are back to .500 (36-36) with the loss. They are off to Sacramento to begin a 3 game series with the Athletics beginning Monday night at 9:40. Jared Jones (1-0, 4.73) vs J.T. Ginn (4-3, 3.15).
