Late power surge lifts Pirates over Indians 6-3

It was looking like it was going to be another one of those games. The Pittsburgh Pirates were virtually ineffective at the plate through six innings of play against the Cleveland Indians. But then the improbable happened, and the Buccos got two three-run homers in the seventh inning — one from Michael Perez and another from Bryan Reynolds — after having just one total on the entire year, that lifted the Pirates to a 6-3 win over Cleveland for their second straight victory.

It appeared last night’s 11-run outburst by Pittsburgh was to be a one-and-done type of deal, as the Indians clung to a 2-0 lead on the strength of a solo homerun in the top of the second by Harold Ramirez off of Wil Crowe and another solo shot off of Crowe by Rene Rivera in the third. Then this happened in the bottom of the seventh.

Boom, instant 3-2 lead for the Pirates after the blast scored Ben Gamel and Kevin Newman. But the Pirates weren’t done, as later that same inning, Bryan Reynolds went Allegheny with one.

That shot scored Ka’ai Tom and Adam Frazier to give Pittsburgh a 6-2 lead. The Indians would get one more on another Ramirez solo shot, this one off of Richard Rodriguez in the ninth inning, but that’s all they got, as Rodriguez struck out two of the four batters he faced in the ninth to close it out.

Chris Stratton pitched two scoreless innings of middle relief to earn his second win of the season, while Pirates starter Crowe went four and two-thirds, giving up two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out two for the no-decision.

Reynolds was 2-for-4 on the afternoon to go along with the dinger and three RBIs to raise his average to .300 on the season. He’s been playing some great ball. Other than Perez’s homer, the only other Pittsburgh hits came off singles from Gamel and Newman.

Bryan Shaw took the loss for Cleveland, as he was credited with four earned runs and three walks in zero innings pitched.

The Bucs will look for the sweep tomorrow on Father’s Day (I’ll take that as a Father’s Day present), as the game starts at 1:05pm in the afternoon.