DETROIT — The Pirates’ offense had stagnated over seven innings.
They’d opened the game with a burst of life, scoring two runs in the first inning, but everything stalled out against Detroit Tigers starter Jose Urena.
But in the eighth, with the game tied, Urena wasn’t on the mound anymore. The Tigers brought right-handed reliever Jose Cisnero into the ballgame, and he only allowed a single to Adam Frazier before being relieved by left-hander Gregory Soto.
Left fielder Bryan Reynolds walked to put runners on first and second, setting the stage for first baseman Colin Moran. Against a heavy shift to the right side of the infield, Moran delivered, bouncing a weak ground ball between the third baseman and shortstop that dribbled into the outfield and allowed Frazier to score the go-ahead run.
Third baseman Erik Gonzalez, who has gone three straight games with at least one RBI, stepped up next and dribbled one through the right side of the infield to score Reynolds.
It wasn’t pretty or powerful, but the Pirates took a 4-2 lead and held on to it the rest of the way, with Chris Stratton and Richard Rodriguez slamming the door on any would-be Tigers comebacks to secure the win. The win brings Pittsburgh to 9-10 on the season and earns them their third series win in their last four tries.
The Pirates jumped on top of the Tigers right from the start, thanks yet again to the top of their lineup. Frazier led the game off with a double to the right-center gap. Two batters later, Reynolds knocked him in with a single, and two batters after that, Gonzalez did the same for Reynolds.
That set the stage for Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller, who has been up and down this season to say the least. But his one good start, against the Chicago Cubs two outings ago, came with a large lead. On Thursday, he looked similarly confident.
And Keller did certainly run into hard contact. In the bottom of the second inning, Tigers shortstop Niko Goodrum doubled against Keller before left fielder Akil Baddoo hit a liner into center field. Reynolds tracked it and attempted to dive to save a run, but he missed, allowing the run to score and Baddoo to end up on third.
In the fifth, Keller got stung again, allowing a bullet home run to right field from Tigers outfielder Jacoby Jones.
Keller left after that inning, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out five.
The Pirates have now avoided losing any series since their second of the season against the Cincinnati Reds. They’ll look to keep that hot streak alive this weekend when they travel to Minnesota to take on the Twins.
