Jordy Mercer was stranded on second base in the ninth inning, the go-ahead run left in scoring position. The plate appearance that got him there ended up helping the Pirates eventually win, which they did on Mercer‘s walk-off double.
Mercer worked a five-pitch walk to reach in the ninth. “The at-bat before kind of put me in a good place,” he said. “I really had a good at-bat the at-bat before and I was seeing it well.”
Mercer was hitting .367/.418/.449 in July entering the game and raised his batting average to .250 with the hit. It was .199 May 31.
“Hopefully he settled in to throw that kind of at-bat out there in that situation, it was really good to see,” Clint Hurdle said. “He’s capable of driving in runs, he’s getting more confidence every time he takes the field. Nights like tonight, when you can end it like that in a walk-off, just add to that.”
The Pirates‘ bullpen pitched four scoreless innings. The final three relievers -- Mark Melancon, Justin Wilson and Jared Hughes -- threw 19 pitches to 10 batters.
“Everybody came in out of the ‘pen and pounded the zone and had good stuff,” Hughes said.
Overshadowed in the win was the Pirates‘ inability to do much with Brett Anderson, who pitched seven innings of one-run ball and struck out eight.
Pirates notebook: Alvarez, Hurdle talk about Alvarez‘s throwing issues.
Coverage of the Rockies from the Denver Post.
First Published: March 24, 2016, 5:08 p.m.