Pirates Bat Past the Rangers, Avoid Sweep

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates finally got going offensively, as they defeated the Texas Rangers at PNC Park, 8-3.

The Pirates lost twice previously against the Rangers, 6-2 on June 20 and 3-2 on June 21, as they avoid a home sweep with this victory.

Pittsburgh improves to 31-48 and 20-21 at home, while Texas drops to 38-40 overall and 15-24 on the road.

Pirates left-handed starting pitcher Bailey Falter began the second inning with back-to-back walks of Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien and right fielder Adolis García.

He got catcher Jonah Heim to ground out, but then allowed back-to-back singles from designated hitter Josh Jung and third baseman Josh Jung, scoring both Semien and García, as the Rangers took a 2-0 lead.

Falter would get the Pirates out of the inning, as first baseman Ezequiel Duran hit into a double play.

The Pirates got two baserunners on in the bottom of the second inning, as catcher Joey Bart led off with a walk and left fielder Tommy Pham singled with two outs, but they failed to score any runs as shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa struck out and ended the inning.

Falter allowed a leadoff double to Rangers left fielder Sam Haggerty and walked center fielder Wyatt Langford in the top of the third inning.

He would get out of the inning, as he got shortstop Corey Seager to foul out, Semien to fly out and then after a wild pitch moved both baserunners, forced García into a groundout.

Bart and first baseman Spencer Horwitz hit back-to-back, one out singles in the bottom of the fourth inning for the Pirates.

Third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes made it three consecutive singles, scoring Bart and moving Horwitz to third base. Pham then hit a big fly ball, scoring Horwitz and tying the game up at 2-2.

Falter would give up a leadoff single to Duran and walked Haggerty in the top of the fifth inning, but got Langford to foul out, struck out Seager and forced Semien into a ground out, escaping the inning unscathed.

Center fielder Oneil Cruz led off the bottom of the fifth inning for the Pirates with a walk, which ended Rangers right-handed starting pitcher Jack Leiter's outing.

Cruz went to steal second base, but designated hitter Andrew McCutchen hit a grounder that avoided the double play.

Reynolds and second baseman Nick Gonzales then hit back-to-back singles, scoring Cruz and giving the Pirates a 3-2 lead, their first of the series.

Bart hit a grounder, but made it safely to first base, avoiding the double play and putting two runners on the corners with two outs.

Horwitz then doubled, scoring Reynolds and Bart, Hayes singled, scoring Horwitz, then Pham hit a double, scoring Hayes, as the Pirates increased their advantage to 7-2.