The Pirates got their lead early in this one when Andrew McCutchen doubled home the speedy Alex Presley in the bottom of the first inning giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead which they would not let go the rest of the game. McCutchen came back the bottom of the third and hit a two run home-run which scored Neil Walker who singled the previous batter. This gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead which with their pitching is hard to blow.
Although McCutchen had all three RBI's for the Pirates A.J. Burnett might of been the MVP of this one. Burnett took a no-hitter all the way into the sixth inning before Alex Gordon singled on a ground ball to right field. Burnett finished up with 7.1 IP, 5 hits, 2ER, 2 BB, and 6 SO. There was a nice scene at PNC Park whenever Burnett left the game in the eighth, the crowd thanked Burnett for his performance by giving him a standing ovation and Burnett acknowledged them by tipping his cap.
The bullpen did good job in this one giving up no earned runs in 1.2 inning of work. With Hanrahan being unavailable because he had pitched three straight nights and five out of the past six games, Jason Grilli entered this one in the ninth and earned him self the save by striking out 2 to close out the game.
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