The Pittsburgh Pirates were swept to start the second half. The consequences of not using Ji-Man Choi when it mattered most were devastating.
On April 17 (ET), Choi pinch-hit for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the San Francisco Giants at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and recorded a single strikeout.
After a long layoff due to a left Achilles tendon injury, Choi has been in peak form since his return. After going hitless in his first game back in the big leagues, he recorded his first hit the next day and followed it up with a multi-hit performance, including his third home run of the season, against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 10 before the All-Star break.
The good times continued in the second half. Choi hit his fourth arch of the season against San Francisco on the 15th, and he followed that up with a hit the day before (the 16th) to extend his hitting streak to four games, raising his average to .176 from .125 before he was sidelined with an injury, but Choi was left out of the starting lineup on the 17th and was pinch-hitting on a day’s rest.
With Choi out of the lineup, Pittsburgh was swept from the start of the second half. It was Pittsburgh that struck first. After failing to capitalize on opportunities to put runners on first and second in the first inning, the Pirates loaded the bases in the second after leadoff hitter Gerard Triolo walked, Jason DeLay singled, and Connor Cho walked. Brian Reynolds followed with an RBI single to make it 1-0.
However, the celebration was short-lived. San Francisco quickly turned the tide. In the top of the third inning, the Giants loaded the bases on a Brett Wisely single, a Ramonte Wade Jr. walk, and a wild pitch, and after J.D. Davis hit a two-run double, Luis Matos drove in another run with a groundout to make it a 1-3 game.
After failing to capitalize on San Francisco’s mound early in the game, Pittsburgh rallied late. The Pirates closed the gap in the bottom of the sixth inning when leadoff hitter Henry Davis led off with a double and Triolo scored from third on a stolen base.
They managed to tie the game. However, it was not enough for Pittsburgh to complete the comeback. In the bottom of the eighth, McCutchen led off with a single and Carlo Santana and Henry Davis drew back-to-back walks to load the bases before Triolo’s sacrifice fly tied the game at 3-3.
Pittsburgh then had runners on first and third, but Tucupita Marcano was thrown out at the plate after failing to execute a squeeze bunt, and Nick Gonzalez followed with a walk, but Jason Delay struck out to end the threat.
Wasting their best chance to win the game in the bottom of the eighth, Pittsburgh was brought to its knees. In the top of the 10th inning of extra innings, San Diego pounded the Pittsburgh mound for a whopping five runs. Pittsburgh responded with a run in the bottom of the 10th with the bases loaded and one out, then brought in Choi with two on and one out.카지노사이트
Choi, who came to bat in place of pitcher Pita Marka, was the “link” in the chain, drawing a walk and stealing second base on a wild pitch by San Francisco. However, no follow-up hit was forthcoming, and Pittsburgh fell to 4-8, dropping the second half of a three-game series with San Francisco.