Scores:
Thursday: 5-3 Win at Houston. Marte impresses, Burnett cruises. Box score.
Friday: 6-5 Win at Houston. The Fort with a big day; late rally. Box score.
Saturday: 4-3 Win at Houston. Wandy not sharp in debut. Box score.
Sunday: 9-5 Loss at Houston. JMac struggles again, walks 7. Box score.
Season Record: 58-43, 2nd place in NL Central, 3.0 games back
Notes: The Bucs take 3 of 4 from the hapless Astros and still lose a game in the standings to the Reds. Starling Marte had an impressive debut, hitting a home run on the first pitch he saw in the majors. Garrett Jones lead the team with five hits in the series. Three of those went for extra bases. A.J. Burnett was the only starter who had a good outing but they all went at least 5 innings. Wandy Rodriguez walked 5 in his Pirates debut. Kevin Correia was moved to the bullpen, gave up 4 runs in 2 innings and demanded a trade.
Combined Box
| Pittsburgh | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG | OBP |
| Marte, S, LF, CF | 18 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0.222 | 0.211 |
| Jones, G, RF, 1B | 17 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0.294 | 0.294 |
| Alvarez, 3B | 15 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0.267 | 0.313 |
| Walker, 2B | 13 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 0.231 | 0.353 |
| McCutchen, A, CF | 12 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0.333 | 0.385 |
| Presley, RF, LF | 12 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0.333 | 0.385 |
| Barmes, SS | 10 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0.300 | 0.300 |
| McGehee, 1B | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0.100 | 0.182 |
| Barajas, C | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.125 | 0.222 |
| McKenry, C | 7 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.571 | 0.625 |
| Burnett, AJ, P | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.333 |
| Harrison, SS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.667 |
| Sutton, PH-RF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.000 | 0.333 |
| Mercer, PR-SS | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Karstens, P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| McDonald, J, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Rodriguez, W, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Totals | 135 | 20 | 36 | 17 | 9 | 30 | 48 | 0.267 | 0.311 |
Batting
Doubles (5): McCutchen 2 (19), McKenry (9), Harrison (8), Walker (24)
Triples (1): Jones (2)
Home Runs (8): Marte (1), Jones 2 (16), Barmes (5), Presley 2 (8), McKenry (9), Walker (10)
Baserunning
SB: Marte (1)
CS: Marte (1)
Fielding
Double Plays: (Walker-Barmes-McGehee), (Alvarez-Walker-McGehee)
Pitching
| Pittsburgh | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | WHIP |
| Burnett, AJ(W, 12-3) | 7.3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2.45 | 0.68 |
| Rodriguez, W | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4.50 | 1.83 |
| Karstens | 5.0 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 7.20 | 1.80 |
| McDonald, J(L, 10-5) | 5.0 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 9.00 | 2.60 |
| Hanrahan(S, 30,31) | 2.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4.50 | 1.50 |
| Hughes, J | 2.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 2.50 |
| Correia | 2.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18.00 | 3.00 |
| Lincoln(H, 4,5) | 1.7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.20 |
| Grilli(S, 2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Watson(W, 5-1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Resop(W, 1-3) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.00 |
| Totals | 34.0 | 35 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 35 | 5 | 5.29 | 1.62 |
Transactions (since the AllStar break): Activated OF Alex Presley from the DL. Optioned 1B Matt Hague to AAA. Placed RHP Juan Cruz on the 15-day DL. Recalled RHP Evan Meek from AAA. Traded minor league pitchers Rudy Owens and Colton Cain and minor league OF Robbie Grossman to Houston for LHP Wandy Rodriguez. Optioned RHP Evan Meek to AAA. Optioned OF Gorkys Hernandez to AAA. Recalled OF Starling Marte from AAA. Traded minor leage 2B Brian Friday to Atlanta for minor league OF Christian Marrero. Assigned Marrero to AAA.
Filed under: baseball, Pirates Tagged: | Astros, baseball, Pirates, Starling Marte, Wandy Rodriguez
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