The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 last night at PNC Park. Josh Bell hit his 15th home run of the season, breaking Ralph Kiner’s mark for a rookie prior to the All-Star break. Kiner hit 14 home runs in 1946 prior to the All-Star break as a rookie, and went on to hit 23 for the season. Jose Osuna had two doubles and drove in two runs. Pirate starter Ivan Nova allowed just the two runs on seven hits over five innings for his eighth victory of the season. The Pirates improved to 36-42 overall, and moved to within four games of the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. The Bucs and Rays complete their three-game series tonight at 7:05pm. Jameson Taillon will start for the Pirates. Pre-game on WISR 680am is 6:40pm.
