The Miami Marlins defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 in a walk-off season-opener Thursday afternoon in Florida. Poor fielding, strikeouts and the bullpen were issues that cost the Pirates in the game.
Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes two runs on three hits while pitching into the sixth inning. He walked two and struck out seven. The back-end of the Pirates bullpen, which had issues last season, failed to close the game. Colin Holderman and David Bednar allowed three earned runs. Bednar failed to record an out in the ninth inning.
The Pirates were no-hit into the fifth inning. They ended with four hits in the game, struck out 11 times, but they did steal six bases. But they failed to take advantage of seven walks by Miami pitchers, and left nine men on base. The Bucs were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Nick Gonzales hit a two-run home, but left the game with ankle discomfort.
The Pirates and Marlins play tonight at 7:10pm. WISR pre-game is 6:45pm.
The Pirates and Marlins play Saturday at 4:10pm. Pre-game on WISR is 3:45pm. Sunday’s game has a first pitch of 1:40pm. Pre-game is 12:40pm on WISR with the Ben Cherington Show.
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