The Houston Astros avoided a series sweep by the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 5-4 victory last night. Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz committed three errors in two innings that aided Houston’s cause. The Pirates had called up Jake Woodward to start the game and he did not allow an earned run on two hits over his five innings. He also did not walk a batter. The Bucs had built a 4-0 lead prior to the Cruz errors in the second and third innings.
Reliever Colin Holderman took the loss. He allowed a two-run home run in the sixth inning which decided the game.
The Bucs outhit the Astros 9-5 in the game. Joey Bart hit his seventh home run of the year and had three hits. Bryan De La Cruz had two hits and scored a run in his Pirates debut.
Cruz now has 20 errors this season. In addition, he struck out in three of his four at-bats. In the three-game series with Houston, Cruz went 1-13 with nine strikeouts and five errors.
The Pirates missed a chance to gain ground on Milwaukee last night. The Brewers lost to Atlanta 6-2, so the Pirates remain six games back in the NL Central. St. Louis defeated Texas 10-1 and are now five games behind Milwaukee. The Bucs slipped to 2-1/2 games back in the Wild Card race after wins by the Braves, San Diego and Arizona.
The Pirates are off today and will begin a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday night.
Luis Ortiz, Mitch Keller and Paul Skenes are the scheduled starting pitchers for the weekend series.
San Diego comes to PNC Park next Tuesday for a three-game series.
The Pirates placed outfielder Josh Palacios on the 10-day Injured List with a hamstring injury