The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Chicago White Sox 3-2 Wednesday afternoon at PNC Park. Josh Bell drove in the game-winning run with a pinch-hit single in the seventh inning. Edgar Santana earned his first major league victory in relief of starting pitcher Jameson Taillon. Taillon allowed two earned runs while pitching into the sixth inning. Both runs were solo home runs. The Bucs begin a four-game series with the San Diego Padres tonight at 7:05pm. Pre-game on WISR 680am is 6:40pm. Chad Kuhl will start for the Pirates, who remain tied with Milwaukee for first place in the NL Central. The Pirates have won 8 of their last 10. They are off to their fourth-best start in 50 years.
Pirate minor league second baseman Kevin Newman has been named the International League player of the week. Newman had four consecutive multi-hit games for Triple-A Indianapolis. He is batting .315 this season.
Outfielder Jason Martin was named the Eastern League player of the week. He hit .522 over the past six games for Double-A Altoona. He had two home runs and eight RBI’s last week. Martin was acquired in the Gerrit Cole trade with Houston.