Things were in place for a Sunday Night Baseball fantastic finish
Everything was in place for the Pirates to have yet another fantastic finish at PNC Park, this time in front of a national television audience.
At least for those who had not fallen asleep in front of their TVs at such a late hour while watching the first ESPN Sunday Baseball telecast from Pittsburgh since 1998.
The Pirates scored one run in the ninth inning on Andrew McCutchen’s single to make it a one-run game and had the bases loaded with no one out. Already the major league leaders with five walkoff victories, the Bucs seemed on the verge of another.
However, St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal escaped the jam as the Cardinals held on for 6-5 victory. Rosenthal got Ike Davis to foul out for the first out, then induced Jordy Mercer to hit into a 1-2-3 double play to end it as the Pirates’ season-high four-game winning streak was snapped.
Despite falling agonizingly short of a sweep of the Cardinals, the Pirates still had a fine homestand by going 6-3 as they took two of three games from the Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and St. Louis.
“We gave it nine games of hard, this homestand,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We had to play a lot of games uphill, everybody threw something in, it was a good homestand, a positive homestand. We fought to the end.”
If nothing else, the homestand began to erase some nagging suspicions the Pirates were one-year wonders.
The Pirates had lost 14 of their previous 17 games coming when they returned to fall to 10-18. The magic of 2013, which included the Bucs both notching their first winning season and making the postseason for the first time since 1992, seemed like a mirage.
The Pirates still have quite a bit of work ahead as they were 16-21 entering Tuesday and in fourth place in the National League Central, 7½ games behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. The Bucs have a chance to cut into that lead as they play a three-game series against the Brewers that started Tuesday night at Miller Park in Milwaukee.
“We dug ourselves a pretty big hole but we’re trying to dig out,” Pirates second baseman Neil Walker.
It won’t be an easy task but the Pirates showed on the homestand they are willing to use their shovels.