It was all Pittsburgh in game one in Cleveland as the Pirates rolled to their 10th consecutive win. The weather has been bad and the Bucs keep playing well as they wrapped up an early(ish) 7-0 victory in the 6th inning, courtesy of heavy rain.
Speaking of rain, Josh Harrison made a splash in his first game back since July 15th due to hamstring discomfort. The table for Harrison was set thanks to some shoddy Cleveland defense in the top of the 2nd inning. After Moran had lined a one out single to left field, Josh Bell grounded what was ticketed to be a routine 4-6-3 double play. However, Jason Kipnis was unable to field the ground ball cleanly and was only able to get the lead runner at second, thus prolonging the inning. The Bucs received another gift from Cleveland’s defense when Freese skied a high pop up in the middle of the infield. Miscommunication allowed the ball to drop and the inning to continue, yet again. Josh Harrison stepped in the box next and quickly fell behind in the count, 0-2. After fouling one away, Kluber hung a curveball and Harrison made him pay, hitting a no doubter, three run bomb, into the left field seats.
The scoring in the 2nd did not stop there as Mercer doubled on the next pitch. Dickerson then followed it up with a walk before Marte roped an RBI single to right field. Batting next, Polanco made a very loud out to end the threat when Melky Cabrera robbed him of extra bases at the wall in right field.
Harrison helped to initiate the scoring again in the top of the 4th inning when he lined a one out single to center. Mercer followed suit with a single to right. Dickerson grounded into a fielder’s choice after he beat out the potential double play ball, leaving runners at the corners with two outs.
Things escalated quickly on the next two pitches that left Kluber’s hand. Marte singled up the middle on the first one, bringing Harrison around to score. Polanco cleared the bases with a triple to left center field on the following offering. This proved to finalize the Bucs’ run production on the day, and that was more than enough for Williams.
Trevor Williams, unfazed by the multiple rain delays, put together a quality outing. With the help of some solid defensive shifting and plenty of rain to shorten the contest, Williams delivered a complete game shutout of the Indians.
The Indians threatened in the bottom of the 6th inning after they loaded the bases with a one out courtesy of a single by Brantly, a Ramirez walk, and a single by Yandy Diaz. Williams was able to work out of the jam, while striking out Yonder Alonso and getting Melky Cabrera to ground out to second.
The game was called in the next half of the inning.
Final score: Pirates 7, Indians 0 F6
W: Williams (8-7) L: Kluber (12-6)
The Bucs eye their 11th straight victory behind Musgrove, tomorrow at 7:10 pm EDT.