Thriller | Pirates 2 Phillies 1

Cole Hamels held the Pittsburgh Pirates to 1 hit through 8 innings, doesn't sound like a game the home team would have much of a chance to win, does it?

Well they did. The Pirates beat the best team in the National League in 12 innings after collecting just 5 hits all game.

Jeff Karstens was fantastic, going 7 innings and giving up only 1 run on 4 hits. The bullpen was just as good, as Evan Meek, Joel Hanrahan, Daniel McCutchen, and Danny Moskos combined to throw 5 scoreless innings. Karstens really brought his game to this one, going step for step with Hamels all night. After allowing 2 base runners in the first, Karstens set down 13 Phillies in a row before getting into trouble that would lead to his only run allowed in the 6th.

The offense was shut down all night by Hamels. The Pirates first run came in an inning in which they didn't even get a hit. Ronny Cedeno walked, was bunted to second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Jose Tabata sacrifice fly. The Pirates would manage to get a runner into scoring position in each of the final 4 innings of the ball game, but couldn't cash in the winning run until the 12th when Tabata singled off the glove of Chase Utley to bring the Pirates their 27th win of the year.

Heck of a way to start off the homestand. The bullpen is pretty gassed so we'll be looking for some good innings from Charlie Morton tomorrow night, he takes on Kyle Kendrick to try and win a series against the league's best team.