The Pittsburgh Pirates started their uninterrupted portion of interleague play with a 4-2 win over their American League "cousin" (more on that below) Kansas City Royals at PNC Park.
Erik Bedard allowed both runs over seven innings of action and improved to 4-6 on the season and Joel Hanrahan finished up in the ninth to earn his 16th save of the season.
The Pirates will host the Royals tomorrow and Sunday with no coverage tomorrow as Fox blacks out all games against theirs on Saturday as the world is lusting for another Yankees-Mets game...
Pirate Hooks
1) This game featured two plays that were not the most visually impressive,but scored two runs for the Pirates in a two run win.
The first was lumbering Rod Barajas being sent home on a single by Clint Barmes that saw the catcher dive out of the way of the tag of Humberto Quintaro and then crawl/roll back to the plate to touch it for the run.
2) The other took advantage of the non-DH game as the Royals had to use regular DH Billy Butler at first base and move starting first baseman Eric Hosmer to right field to get their bats into the lineup.
Jose Tabata was caught in a rundown after being picked off first by Luke Hochevar,the inexperience of Butler hurt the Royals as Butler was so worried about Tabata that Pedro Alvarez raced home...
3) Neil Walker smacked three more hits as Walker continues a hot week with the bat.
The second baseman is 11 for 23 in his last five games...
4) I thought Erik Bedard looked sharp in his seven innings.
The curve is clearly the key to Bedards's game.
When the curve is dropping for the lefty,the outing is likely to be a good one...
5) Why do I consider the Royals the Pirates cousins?
Small market franchises with a proud history that have been awful for years that are spending money in the draft and trying to build through the farm system.
Also,when the boo hooers talk about all of the above-the two teams are always liked together...
Photo Credit-AP Photo
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