Harrison uses bat, glove to secure happy ending
PITTSBURGH — Josh Harrison used his bat to make sure the Pirates got off to a good start and used his glove to help secure a happy ending against Detroit on Monday afternoon at PNC Park.
Harrison, who recently signed a four-year contract extension, hit a lead-off, first-pitch home run in the bottom of the first to give the Pirates the lead for good and started a key double play in the ninth inning.
Mark Melancon fought through a rocky outing to strike out pinch-hitter Victor Martinez and wrap up a 5-4 victory in Pittsburgh’s home opener, handing the red-hot Tigers (6-1) their first loss of the season in the interleague matchup.
“That’s why every pitch counts, every pitch matters,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “You don’t take things for granted.”
The regular-season record crowd of 39,933 had seen just about a perfect game from the Pirates (3-4) until Melancon was roughed up for three runs in the ninth to put the fans on edge.
Before that, the crowd had plenty to cheer about as Gerrit Cole pitched six-plus strong innings, and Pedro Alvarez and Corey Hart also homered.
Harrison lit up the park with his long ball off starter and loser Anibal Sanchez to give Pittsburgh a quick 1-0 lead.
“It was a fastball. I was just looking out over the plate,” said Harrison, who had two of his team’s nine hits. “He left it up and I put a good swing on it.”
Harrison entered the game hitting just .158, but was considered a spark plug for the team last year, and showed that again on Monday.
“Josh has been up there battling and trying to work some things out,” Hurdle said, “You like to think you can set the tone, I don’t know how much you do, but to put a good swing on a ball, he felt better and it gives a little boost to confidence in the dugout.
“He’s got that capability of doing that. He’s able to step up and do something that really gets your attention, and that’s what he did again today.”
Cole got the Tigers’ attention by blanking their potent lineup until he ran into trouble in the seventh.
The Pirates held a 2-0 lead at that point thanks to Harrison’s single, Gregory Polanco’s double and Andrew McCutchen’s sacrifice fly in the third.
After mustering only one hit through six innings, Detroit loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh when Miguel Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes singled around a J.D. Martinez walk.
Jared Hughes relieved Cole and got out of the jam with minimal damage by inducing a double play from Nick Castellanos as a run scored and then retiring Alex Avila on a foul pop to Harrison.
Hughes gave credit to his defense for the double play, which was started on a backhand snag by shortstop Jordy Mercer.
“These guys are making great plays for us, and that wasn’t just a can of corn, routine double play,” Hughes said. “That was a tough one and they got it done.”
Cole was charged with the single run on three hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.
Sanchez (1-1), like Cole, was strong through six but ran out of gas soon after. He had retired 12 in a row heading into the seventh. Five pitches later, Sanchez was gone and the Pirates were up 5-1.
Alvarez led off the seventh with a home run to center field, his third, to make it 3-1. After Francisco Cervelli reached on an infield single, Hurdle sent up pinch-hitter Corey Hart, who blasted a home run over the left-field wall to make it 5-1 and chase Sanchez.
It was Hart’s 1,000th career hit.
“I didn’t realize it was my 1,000th hit until I got in the dugout and guys were talking about it,” said Hart, who the Pirates signed in the offseason to improve their bench. “It’s fun to hang around long enough to get that number.
“I’m just happy and blessed to still be playing baseball late in my career. Any time you can help out the ball club, it’s exciting.”
Sanchez gave up five runs on eight hits with no walks and nine striketouts in 6 1/3 innings.
Tony Watson kept the lead at four with a perfect eighth, but the Tigers mounted a comeback against Melancon in the ninth.
Ian Kinsler and Cabrera led off the inning with back-to-back doubles to make it 5-2 and J.D. Martinez followed with his fourth home run to slice the gap to one. Cespedes then singled, but Melancon got Castellanos to hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Harrison, who fired to second baseman Neil Walker to start the key double play.
“If you’re going to pick two points of a game in which to turn double plays, I don’t think we could’ve hand picked two better ones,” Hurdle said.
When asked if he got a bigger thrill out of his home run or the double play, Harrison picked neither.
“Actually the strikeout that Melancon came up with,” Harrison said. “The home run and the double play were nice, but sealing the victory is what really put a smile on our face. Melancon made a good pitch there.
“That was a good feeling to raise the Jolly Roger.”