PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - Miami scored 4 in the top of the 7th off the Pirates reeling bullpen in an 8-3 win for the Marlins Friday night at PNC Park.
The Pirates had trouble with Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara. He threw 8 innings, struck out 7 batters and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits.
'The fastball velo was up there at 100 and more importantly the command, he was living on the edges and at the bottom of the zone. We did not get much going offensively," said manager Don Kelly.
In the bottom of the 3rd Endy Rodriguez hit a leadoff double. Jake Mangum moved him over to third on a groundout to second. Jared Triolo brought in Rodriguez with an RBI single to left field to get the Pirates on the board first.
Miami took the lead in the top of the 5th. After a leadoff walk, Liam Hicks rocketed a double off the Clemente wall to give Miami second and third with nobody out. Otto Lopez brought home the tying run with a fielder's choice groundout to shortstop. Kyle Stowers singled home Hicks.
Ashcraft had trouble locating in his start. He threw 90 pitches but just 56 of them for strikes in his 5 innings of work. He allowed 5 hits, 2 runs, walked 2 and struck out 4.
"I thought it was a better outing than the one in Atlanta. I don't think that he had the command that maybe he typically does. It looked like he was falling behind a little bit more. All in all he threw the ball pretty well," said Kelly.
Rodriguez hit a solo home run to tie the game in the bottom of the 5th.
Wilber Dotel came into the game in the top of the 6th inning. Miami threatened with a leadoff double but did not score. The 7th inning was a different story.
Miami loaded the bases with nobody out. Xavier Edwards hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring in the lead runner from third. Heriberto Hernández lined a hard hit ball off the third baseman’s glove for an RBI single to extend Miami’s lead to 4-2. Owen Caissie capped off the inning with a 2 run double off the center field wall to give the Fish a 6-2 lead.
"The walks bit us there in the 7th inning. The walk, bunt base hit and then another walk. At the beginning of the outing it looked like maybe his fastball velo was down a little bit. He regained some of that throughout the outing but it just seemed like the command was not there," said Kelly.
Antwone Kelly made his Major League Debut after Dotel’s rocky outing. Hicks hit a two-run homer off the right field foul pole to extend the Marlins lead to 8-2. Kelly went 2.1 innings pitched, allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and struck out 1.
"They're trying to simplify everything and get back to executing pitches, getting ahead doing things that we talked about in spring training. Tonight in the 7th inning with the two walks, it didn't work out that way. The key to pitching is getting ahead and being able to put guys away and induce early soft contact early in the count," said Kelly on what coaches are talking about with the bullpen pitchers.
Brandon Lowe blasted his 17th home run of the season in the bottom of the 8th inning.
Pittsburgh has lost 6 of its last 7 games. The Pirates now sit at 35-35. Game 2 of the series is Saturday at 4:05. The pitching matchup is Bubba Chanlder (2-7, 4.91) vs TBD.
Pirates have dropped 6 of their last 7 and fall to .500
Pirates have dropped 6 of their last 7 and fall to .500
