The Pirates picked up yet another series win against the Colorado Rockies with a victory this afternoon. James McDonald started for the Pirates and had a rough start, allowing six runs. Three of those runs came off of first inning home runs from Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzalez and it was a real surprise JMac was able to make it through the fifth inning. Brad Lincoln pitched two great innings out of the pen and after Jason Grilli only managed to get one out in the eighth, Tony Watson came up huge retiring Carlos Gonzalez and Andrew Brown. Joel Hanrahan pitched a perfect ninth preserving his 26th save of the season.
Pedro Alvarez hit his 19th home run of the year in the second inning and James McDonald was bailed out by the offense big time. After being down 5-1 at one point, Garrett Jones hit a three-run home run and Clint Barmes had a huge two out, two run single to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead. Casey McGehee and Rod Barajas each hit solo home runs in the fifth, making it the fourth time this season the Pirates have hit four team home runs in a game. Even though the team managed to put up nine runs, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker went hitless, which snapped Walker's 17-game hitting streak.
After a rough first couple innings, the offense came together to help the Bucs get a series win. After an off day tomorrow, they open up a six game home stand against the Miami Marlins.