Overbay, Jones lead Pirates past Red Sox, 6-4
-
The Pirates' Lyle Overbay is greeted at home by Andrew McCutchen after hitting a three-run home run against the Red Sox at PNC Park Saturday.
Share with others:
Saturday night, the Pirates displayed some fireworks before the fireworks.
Not those that prematurely exploded from center field when Joel Hanrahan allowed a two-out double in the ninth inning to Dustin Pedroia, a ball that Xavier Paul nearly caught against the Clemente Wall, though the fireworks operator could not be blamed. The Pirates' dugout thought the game was over, too, and Jeff Karstens was halfway over the railing before he realized what happened.
No, the fireworks before the postgame fireworks show came in the form of home runs from Lyle Overbay and Garrett Jones that sparked the Pirates to a 6-4 win against the Boston Red Sox in front of 39,483, the largest crowd to attend a baseball game in PNC Park history.
Game: Pirates vs. Red Sox, 1:35 p.m., PNC Park.
TV, radio: Root Sports, WPGB-FM (104.7).
Pitching: RHP James McDonald (5-4, 4.86) vs. LHP Andrew Miller (0-0, 4.76).
Key matchup: Adrian Gonzalez is one of two Red Sox to have at-bats against McDonald, but is 3 for 5 in his career against him.
Of note: Miller, the sixth overall pick in the 2006 draft, is 15-26 in six major league seasons.
• The PBC Blog
• Box Score
• Statistics
• Standings
"I think it's awesome," Karstens said. "I think there's a lot of people that looked at us like they're just going to walk in here and beat us up. We've silenced that a little bit."
Overbay hit a three-run homer in the fourth, and Jones crushed a solo homer in the seventh.
The Pirates did not do much for three innings against Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, still baffling batters at age 44 with 65 mile-per-hour butterflies that dance around the strike zone.
"The first time through he was throwing the faster knuckleball, and it wasn't breaking as much," said Overbay, who faced Wakefield often while with the Toronto Blue Jays. "I said, 'Just wait, because it will.' The second time through, he started throwing that one that drops off the table."
Overbay found his pitch with a 3-2 count in the fourth, driving it into last few rows of seats above the Clemente Wall.
"It just didn't do a whole lot," he said. "As soon as he threw it, he just kind of put his head down.."
Overbay's home run scored Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker and gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead.
"Well-timed," manager Clint Hurdle said of the home run. "That's what we've been planning on getting from Lyle on occasion. The last two nights he's come out and swung the bats really crisp, driving the ball, staying behind the ball. It's a welcome addition to our lineup."
First Published June 26, 2011 12:00 am
