Pirates pitching super in 1-0 win
DETROIT – Neil Walker’s 11th-inning home run gave the Pirates a 1-0 win against the Detroit Tigers Tuesday at Comerica Park.
Walker hit the first pitch he saw from Tigers reliever Jose Ortega, a slider on the inner half of the plate, out to right field for his third home run of the season.
For most of the game, the two teams were at the mercy of starting pitchers Jeanmar Gomez of the Pirates and Rick Porcello of the Tigers, who dominated the opposing lineups.
Nobody reached second base for the first seven innings. Gomez and Porcello needed only 158 pitches through 14 combined innings of work.
Gomez tied his career high with seven scoreless innings. He had pitched seven innings three times before in his career. The first time he did so, against the Tigers July 18, 2010, was his major league debut.
Gomez allowed three hits and a walk and struck out two. Back-to-back seven-pitch innings in the fifth and sixth kept his pitch count low. He finished with 73 pitches.
Porcello matched Gomez inning for inning. He either struck out the Pirates or forced them to ground out. Porcello pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out 11. He allowed three hits and a walk.
The Pirates put the first man on second base in the eighth inning. Pedro Alvarez singled and Travis Snider walked with one out. Josh Harrison pinch-ran for Alvarez, but Clint Barmes grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The Tigers had a chance in the eighth. A Barmes throwing error allowed Omar Infante to reach second against Justin Wilson, but Wilson retired the next two batters.
Walker singled in the ninth off Joaquin Benoit. He stole second with two outs, and an errant throw put him on third, but Garrett Jones flied out.
Pinch-hitter Jordy Mercer came to the plate with two on and two outs in the 10th, but flied out.
Gomez has had trouble extending his starts past the fifth inning this season. He pitched well against the New York Mets at Citi Field May 12, but after taking a ball off his leg, his calf tightened and forced him from the game. He made it through 42/3 innings against the Houston Astros May 17. He pitched well against the Chicago Cubs May 23, but a lengthy rain delay kept him from pitching more than 32/3 innings.
“We are committed to challenging him to get out there and give us five,” said manager Clint Hurdle, who said five innings was a realistic expectation, before the game. “He understands the importance of the role he’s in and what he’s doing. Anything less than that obviously puts a little more strain on our guys in the bullpen.”
To counter Porcello and the three left-handers in the Tigers’ bullpen, Hurdle staggered his lineup so that at no point did two same-handed batters hit consecutively.
In two career starts against the Pirates, Porcello had allowed one run in 15 innings. Porcello makes his living with control and using his defense, taking advantage of a good sinking fastball. He had walked only 1.9 batters per nine innings this season entering Tuesday’s start, but struck out only 6.1 per nine. He had allowed 52 hits in 43 innings before Tuesday, and in 2012 led the American League with 226 hits allowed in 1761/3 innings.
The game started 1 hour 13 minutes late due to a rain delay.
Other than a single from Walker in the first inning, Porcello held the Pirates in check through the first three innings. He struck out four, including the side in the second, and induced five ground-ball outs.
Gomez allowed two singles and a walk through three, but none of the runners made it past first base.
Alex Avila led off the fifth with a single. Omar Infante then flied out. Don Kelly grounded up the middle on a hit-and run, allowing Barmes to step on second base for the force-out and throw out Kelly for the double play. Gomez needed only 55 pitches to complete five innings.