Marlins pound Pirates
PITTSBURGH – Giancarlo Stanton smashed a home run over the batter’s eye at PNC Park, Tyler Moore went deep twice for the second multihomer game of his career and the Miami Marlins pounded the reeling Pittsburgh Pirates 12-7 on Friday night.
Stanton’s shot narrowly cleared the massive green wall beyond center field in the third inning and was estimated at 449 feet by Statcast. He entered the night two back of the NL lead for home runs behind Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman and Cincinnati’s Scott Schebler.
Moore hit a two-run homer off Tyler Glasnow (2-6) in the second and took reliever Dovydas Neverauskas deep over the left field wall in the seventh.
Dee Gordon went 3 for 5 with two doubles as the Marlins posted a season high in runs behind 18 hits. Dustin McGowan (4-0) earned the win in relief of shaky starter Vance Worley. The Marlins have won 11 of 15.
Adam Frazier and Jordy Mercer had two hits and two RBIs apiece for the Pirates, who have dropped four straight to drop into last in the NL Central.
Pittsburgh put much of its hopes on contending on its largely unproven starting rotation, with Glasnow a critical component.
It simply hasn’t happened. The 6-foot-8 right-hander dominated at Triple-A despite control issues. He’s not getting away with it in the majors. Though he managed to not walk a batter for just the second time in 12 starts this season, he’s now given up 12 home runs in 54 1/3 innings.
Pittsburgh remains committed to sticking with the 24-year-old during the bumps, ones that don’t appear to be going away. Glasnow retired just 12 of the 22 batters he faced as his ERA rose to 7.45, which would be the second-worst among major league starters if Glasnow had enough innings to qualify. His inability to pitch deep into games is keeping him off the list.
While Glasnow is trying to get his young career on track, Worley is attempting to resurrect his while trying to eat innings for the Marlins’ injury ravaged pitching staff.
Worley spent two seasons with the Pirates, helping Pittsburgh make consecutive playoff appearances in 2014 and 2015 while bouncing between the bullpen and the rotation. His return to PNC Park lasted just 3 2/3 innings after giving up four runs, his own ERA rising to 7.27 in five appearances.
The way the Marlins knocked around Glasnow, it didn’t matter. Miami scored runs in three of the four innings Glasnow worked and kept piling on. The most impressive blow came from Stanton, who sent a ball that clanged off the TV stand atop the batter’s eye, seemingly closer to the Roberto Clemente Bridge than home plate.
Trainer’s room: Marlins: LHP Justin Nicolino (left index finger contusion) is scheduled to make a start for Class A Jupiter on Tuesday. … RHP Tom Koehler (right shoulder bursitis) had no health issues coming out of a rehab start. He gave up three runs in four innings for Jupiter. Manager Don Mattingly said the team will let Koehler make at least one more start before evaluating the quality of them.
Pirates: RHP Jameson Taillon will return to the starting rotation next week against Colorado, just a month removed from being diagnosed with testicular cancer. Taillon underwent a procedure on May 8 to remove cancerous tissue and has made three rehab starts, the last for Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Marlins: Dan Straily (4-4, 4.16) will go for his fourth win in his last five starts on Saturday. Straily hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in each of his last six starts.
Pirates: Trevor Williams (3-3, 4.57 ERA) will try to make a case to keep his spot in the rotation when Taillon returns. Williams is 1-0 with a 2.50 ERA in his last three starts.