PITTSBURGH _ Boy, was left-hander Jeff Locke greeted warmly Sunday at PNC Park.
In his first start in Pittsburgh since the Pirates non-tendered him this past offseason, Locke was tagged with two runs off the bat and departed with the bases loaded in the sixth. He was charged with three runs in 5 1/3 innings as the Pirates split their four-game series against the Miami Marlins with a 3-1 win Sunday afternoon.
Right-hander Ivan Nova tossed six shutout innings, allowing only one hit _ J.T. Riddle's fourth-inning single. In his previous start, Nova exited early because of a balky left knee, which has bothered him for the past few weeks. The Pirates were not about to push him Sunday. Nova struck out four, including all three batters he faced in the second, and issued no walks.
For the second day in a row, left-hander Felipe Rivero secured a four-out save.
The Pirates (28-35) had 11 hits to the Marlins' four. Pittsburgh squandered a few golden opportunities, but made others count. Andrew McCutchen, Jose Osuna and Elias Diaz had two hits apiece. McCutchen is batting .411 since taking over the six-hole in the lineup.
Diaz opened the scoring in the first inning by sending a two-run double up the left-center gap, scoring Jose Osuna and David Freese, both of whom had singled with two outs.
The Pirates added a third run in the sixth when Jordy Mercer singled the other way against reliever Brad Ziegler with the bases loaded. Hoping to add on, manager Clint Hurdle replaced Nova with pinch-hitter John Jaso, who grounded into a first-to-home double play.
Right-hander Juan Nicasio worked around a bunt single by Christian Yelich in the sixth. Right-hander Daniel Hudson ran into trouble in the seventh. Ichiro Suzuki launched a leadoff home run into the right-field seats, putting the Marlins (27-35) on the board.
After pinch-hitter Dee Gordon singled, Hudson whiffed pinch-hitter Giancarlo Stanton and got Riddle to ground out, a play which could have ended the inning had Mercer not dropped Josh Bell's high throw and foiled the rundown between first and second base.
Enter Rivero. He induced a ground ball from J.T. Realmuto to strand Gordon at second base, ending the eighth. Rivero worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save with the Pirates.
