I can't believe the Pirates won this game, which you could feel them losing as soon as Matt Capps entered a tie game in the ninth. The Dodgers could have clinched the NL West with a win today, but thanks to a crazy ninth-inning comeback by the Bucs, they'll have to wait.
The Pirates took an early lead by scoring two runs in the third on a wild pitch and an RBI double by Andy LaRoche. Daniel McCutchen started and got some help from the Dodgers, who ran themselves into two outs in what could have been a troublesome fourth inning. Still, he pitched well overall, allowing only two runs in six innings and outlasting Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers tied the game in the seventh, though, and the Bucs couldn't retake the lead in the bottom of the inning despite a hustling one-out triple by Andrew McCutchen.
Joel Hanrahan returned and pitched a scoreless eighth, leaving with a score of 2-2. Normally I'm a fan of using your closer in high-leverage situations like a tie game in the ninth, but that's only when your closer is actually your best relief pitcher, which Capps plainly isn't right now. I found myself wondering why John Russell didn't just leave Hanrahan in. Anyway, Capps gave up three runs, leaving behind a 5-2 deficit.
Delwyn Young began the bottom of the inning with a single off the Dodgers' excellent closer Jonathan Broxton, though, and Brandon Moss and Andy LaRoche followed that with singles of their own. LaRoche's brought in Young and left the Bucs with men at second and third following an error by Rafael Furcal. The Dodgers intentionally walked Garrett Jones for the third time in the game--it was a weird game--and Lastings Milledge followed that with a long hit to right-center that probably only should have scored two runs, but was misplayed by Andre Ethier, allowing Jones to come home. What a wild game. It wasn't quite the Pirates coming back for six runs against Billy Wagner and the Astros, but it was close.
UPDATE: And... Capps gets the win. Traditional statistics!