The Pirates won a strange game on Tuesday against the Diamondbacks, thanks in part to big performances from Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones.
Jones had an RBI single in the first, but Pirates starter Jeff Karstens gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning before departing with a sore shoulder. That left Jared Hughes to pitch the second, and he gave up an RBI double to Willie Bloomquist before settling down.
The Pirates then tied the game in the bottom of third on an RBI single by Neil Walker and a double by Jones. They took the lead in the sixth on Jones’ solo homer.
The Bucs missed opportunities to pad their lead in the late innings thanks to odd decisions by manager Clint Hurdle, who in the seventh small-balled his way out of a rally and in the eighth declined to pinch hit for Pedro Alvarez with two outs, two on and a lefty on the hill. In the bottom of the eighth, Jason Grilli gave up a solo homer to John McDonald to tie the game.
In the top of the ninth, however, Alex Presley and Casey McGehee singled, and Andrew McCutchen hit a single to bring home Presley and give the Pirates a 5-4 lead.
Juan Cruz got the save; evidently, Joel Hanrahan was unavailable for the night due to a tight hamstring.
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