The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the San Diego Padres 5-4 yesterday and completed a three-game series sweep. The Pirates fell behind 4-0 in the first four innings, but scored five unanswered runs in the game. They scored three runs in the seventh inning to take the lead. Four Pirate relievers held the Padres scoreless over the final 4-1/3rd innings, with David Bednar earning his 16th save.
Rookie Henry Davis led the Pirates with three hits. He currently has a seven-game hitting streak, and has reached base in nine of his first 10 major league games. The Bucs had 10 hits in the game.
The Pirates-Padres game was delayed Thursday as the team evaluated whether to even play because of the smoky conditions surrounding PNC Park, related to Canadian wildfires. The game began 45 minutes after its scheduled start time as the team consulted Major League Baseball, its players union and Allegheny Health Network.
The Bucs open a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers tonight at 7:05pm. Pre-game on WISR begins at 6:40pm.
(Game time Saturday is 4:10pm. WISR pre-game is 3:40pm. Sunday’s game begins at 1:35pm. WISR pre-game is 1:10pm.)
The Pirates are currently 38-42 overall and begin the night 4-1/2 games behind the first-place Brewers and Cincinnati Reds, who are both 43-38 overall.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton has been named the the National League coaching staff for next month’s All-Star game. The team will be led by Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson.