Pirates come from behind, top Marlins 5-4
Josh Bell hit a go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates rally to a 5-4 win over the host Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon.
Bell, who leads the All-Star Game vote-getting for National League first basemen, already has 65 RBIs this season.
Pirates reliever Richard Rodriguez (1-3) earned the win, pitching one scoreless inning. In all, the Pittsburgh bullpen pitched four innings of scoreless ball, getting five outs from Kyle Crick and four from Felipe Vazquez, who earned his 16th save.
Reliever Nick Anderson (2-3), who gave up two runs in the seventh, took the loss.
Miami's offense was led by rookie Harold Ramirez, who hit a three-run homer.
Neither starter posted a decision. Miami's Sandy Alcantara allowed eight hits, two walks and three runs, striking out six in six innings. He left the game with a 4-3 lead.
Pittsburgh's Chris Archer had another rough outing, allowing seven hits, three walks and four runs in five innings. He has given up 17 home runs over his 12 starts.
Alcantara worked around leadoff doubles in the first and third innings, but the Pirates finally got to him in the fourth. With two outs, Jung Ho Kang drove in a pair of runs by pulling a double down the left-field line.
But Miami answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Garrett Cooper doubled, Brian Anderson walked, and, with two outs, Ramirez hit his homer on a line to left. Alcantara capped the rally with an opposite-field RBI single, giving Miami a 4-2 lead.
Cooper got a second at-bat in the fourth, but his would-be grand slam turned into a fly out to the warning track in right.
Pittsburgh cut its deficit to 4-3 in the sixth, a rally that started when Gregory Polanco doubled over the head of center fielder JT Riddle. Two outs later, pinch-hitter Corey Dickerson punched an opposite-field double down the third-base line, scoring Polanco.
The Pirates grabbed a 5-4 lead in the seventh. Bryan Reynolds lined a leadoff single to center off reliever Anderson, Melky Cabrera drilled an RBI triple that hit chalk on the right-field line, and Bell drove in a run with his opposite-field two-bagger to left.
--Field Level Media
