The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-1 on Friday night at PNC Park, and Bubba Chandler made it look easy for most of six innings. Chandler allowed one run on three hits and one walk, retired 17 of the first 18 batters he faced and struck out three before handing the game to the bullpen in front of a SkyBlast crowd of 24,198.
He threw 62 of his 90 pitches for strikes, averaged 98.2 mph on 45 four-seam fastballs and touched triple digits three times, a fastball mix that kept a first-place opponent from settling in. The Pirates entered the night leading the National League Central, while the Rays came in atop the American League East.
Spencer Horwitz put Pittsburgh in front 1-0 in the second inning with a double that scored Marcell Ozuna, and the two were part of a lineup that kept creating traffic. Ozuna and Horwitz each had three-hit games, and the Pirates finished 4 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
The Rays finally tied it in the sixth when Junior Caminero sent a full-count fastball to center. Oneil Cruz answered almost immediately, driving his sixth home run of the season to put Pittsburgh back ahead 3-1 in the same inning. That swing was the one that changed the game, because Tampa Bay had started to look comfortable against Chandler just before Cruz erased the momentum.
Brandon Lowe added the rest in the eighth with a two-run double against his former club, finishing 3 for 5 with two doubles. Lowe was drafted by the Rays in the third round in 2015 and spent the first decade of his career with them before the Pirates acquired him in a three-team trade in December. Mason Montgomery, another piece of that deal, followed Chandler in the seventh and extended his scoreless streak to five straight appearances, with nine strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings over that stretch.
For Pittsburgh, the result fit the promise Don Kelly made after one of the team’s sloppiest performances of the season: cleaner baseball. This time the Pirates had the sharper starter, the bigger swing and enough contact with runners in scoring position to back it up. Friday’s win also followed recent signs of life around the club, including the stretch that came before Pittsburgh Pirates Host Padres Vs Pirates After Three-Game Win Streak, and it stood in contrast to the kind of loose play that had defined the previous night in Pittsburgh Pirates Vs Chicago Cubs: Thielbar error dooms Cubs in 4-3 loss.
Chandler did not need to be perfect. He just needed to be the best arm on the field, and on a night when the Pirates needed a clean answer after a messy one, he was exactly that.
