The Pirates scraped out a win over the Padres in extra innings last night, despite a mistake by Braxton Ashcraft that cost them a run.
Greg Brown has the recap.
Nick Gonzales, Rafael Flores Jr., and Jared Triolo all had two hits for the Pirates.
The Padres’ run off Ashcraft in the sixth came on a balk call after he had induced an inning-ending grounder by Jake Cronenworth. He had failed to indicate to the home plate umpire whether or not he would pitch from the stretch with a runner on third, which is a balk.
Manager Donnie Kelly says it was a battle for the battlin’ Bucs.
There could be a roster move for the Pirates today to help their tiring bullpen. They used six relievers last night in the 12-inning marathon.
The Pirates go for their second straight win tonight. Paul Skenes (9-11, 3.95 ERA) throws for the Pirates against Padres right-hander Michael King (8-9, 3.38 ERA). Airtime is 9:15, first pitch at 9:40 on WCCS.
ALTOONA
Altoona opens a six-game series tonight at PNG Field against Erie. It’s the next-to-last home series of the season for the Curve, who will send Matt Ager to the mound.
