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Pirates Manage Just Two Hits, Fall to Mariners 5-0

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Vince Velasquez, Pittsburgh Pirates

Tucupita Marcano led off the game with a double for the Pirates. It was the only extra-base hit Pittsburgh managed on the day, and one of just two hits in a 5-0 shutout loss. 

One day after racking up 11 runs on 15 hits, the Pirates’ bats fell dead silent, striking out 17 times.

Former Cincinnati Reds’ mainstays Luis Castillo and Eugenio Suárez made their presence known in the game against their old foes.

Castillo pitched a lights-out game, striking out ten and allowing just one hit, but the Pirates worked their at-bats long enough to chase him after six innings. Suárez added two RBI and a run scored.

Fresh off an Injured List stint, Pirates’ starter Vince Velasquez left the game after just two innings with right elbow discomfort.

Marcano laced the first pitch of the game the opposite way for a leadoff double. Castillo rebounded to force a lineout and two strikeouts, with Marcano’s double the only hit he allowed.

Seattle wasted no time getting started, with shortstop J.P. Crawford and first baseman Ty France hitting consecutive doubles. Suárez singled France home, and a Teoscar Hernandez double made it 3-0 in the first. 

Crawford singled and France walked to put two on for center fielder Julio Rodriguez in the second. Rodriguez responded with a double that pushed the lead to 4-0. Velasquez ended his day with two strikeouts to stop the bleeding.

Defense a Difference Maker…

Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes robbed Rodriguez of a sure double in the fourth, saving a run with his lightning-fast glove.

Pirates’ reliever Jose Hernandez allowed a leadoff double to left fielder Jarred Kelenic in the fifth. He still managed to put up a zero in the frame, as Hayes threw Kelenic out at home on a fielder’s choice.

…For Better and Worse

Rodriguez began the seventh with a single, swiping second and receiving third on a platter after a throwing error from catcher Jason Delay on the steal attempt. 

Center fielder Jack Suwinski appeared to key a double play in the seventh, throwing home after a Suárez fly ball to nail Rodriguez at the plate. Mariners’ skipper Scott Servais challenged the play, and replay showed that Delay’s tag arrived late as Seattle went up 5-0.

After not having an opportunity to pitch since May 22, manager Derek Shelton gave closer David Bednar the eighth. Bednar managed a perfect inning, working one strikeout.

Carlos Santana, Suwinski and Hayes all went down looking in the ninth to end the game.

The Pirates move to 26-25 on the season. They look to take the series with the Mariners at 4:10pm EDT Sunday, with Luis Ortiz (1-2, 4.02 ERA) set to start.

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