PITTSBURGH _ Gerrit Cole needed to bounce back. After a nightmarish four-game stretch in which he allowed 23 earned runs and three double-digit hit games, Cole was lost, unable to locate the form he showed in his first five starts.
On Tuesday, at least, Cole looks like he might be on his way to finding it. The right-hander threw seven innings of three-hit baseball, allowing one earned run, as the Pirates beat the Rockies, 5-2, to win their fourth consecutive game. It is the first time this season the Pirates have won four in a row.
Pinch hitting for Cole, John Jaso hit a one-out home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to put the Pirates on top once again. It was his second pinch-hit homer of the season, and his fourth overall.
Jordy Mercer reached safely after Elias Diaz grounded out to start the seventh. With Cole already at 100 pitches, manager Clint Hurdle made the decision to insert Jaso.
Jaso had seen just one pitch from reliever Adam Ottavino, who replaced starter Tyler Chatwood to start the inning, before he ripped the ball into the outfield bullpen.
Juan Nicasio pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out two, before turning it over to Felipe Rivero.
Rivero ended his streak of 13 straight scoreless appearances, allowing one hit and one earned run, but he still was able to preserve the victory.
The Pirates picked up insurance runs in the eight from Andrew McCutchen, who belted a two-out, two-run home run into the left-field seats to make it 5-1. McCutchen also homered in the fourth inning, giving him his 13th career game with multiple home runs. He has 11 homers on the year.
Since moving to the 6th spot in the lineup 17 games ago, McCutchen has been ablaze. He has five home runs since the move and has batted .405 (17 of 42).
In the fourth, McCutchen took a 2-2 pitch from Chatwood to left field for the first run of the game. It was the only run allowed by Chatwood, who entered the game 2-0 in June with a 1.29 ERA.
Cole walked three batters Tuesday, one of which proved to be consequential. After sending down Carlos Gonzalez and Ian Desmond, Cole issued a two-out walk to shortstop Trevor Story, who would come around to score on Tony Wolters outfield single.
Mercer's throw to the plate was just a tad late, which allowed Story to slide around the tag to tie the game at 1-1.
Cole again found himself in trouble during the sixth inning. With one out, DJ LeMahieu hit a chopper back to Cole, who couldn't gather it off his glove. Cole then forced a hurried, side-arm throw to first, which was low and rolled past Bell, allowing LeMahieu to take second. Cole was charged with two errors on the play.
Nolan Arenado followed with a sacrifice fly to right field, which allowed LeMahieu to move over to third base. But Cole remained composed and was able to get out of the jam on a broken-bat pop out from Mark Reynolds.
