Late inning drama went down in Houston tonight as the Bucs edged out a hard fought victory over the Houston Astros. Five pitchers were used for the Bucs, and Tony Watson got his fifth win (5-1) and Joel Hanrahan converted his league leading 31st save. Jeff Karstens had a poor start pitching only five innings, while allowing four runs (two home runs) and striking out seven. Chris Resop had a scoreless inning and Jared Hughes was bailed out by the offense, as he let the Astros lead run come in late in the game.
After being down 3-0 in the early innings, Alex Presley and Michael McKenry each helped out with home runs and Josh Harrison had a clutch sacrifice fly which tied the game at four at the time. The Pirates trailed 5-4 in the ninth inning but after Michael McKenry, Drew Sutton, and Casey McGehee managed to reach base with one out, Starling Marte had a huge sacrifice fly scoring Jordy Mercer (who pinch ran for McKenry). A few pitches later Chris Snyder let a wild pitch get away from him which scored Drew Sutton, and ended up being the winning run.
It was definitely a great game to watch with the late inning magic. The Pirates continue to hang around with the Cincinnati Reds but still remain two games back in the division.