Harrison uses bat, glove to secure happy ending
Pittsburgh Pirates' Josh Harrison (5) celebrates with manager Clint Hurdle, right, after hitting a solo-home run off Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez in the first inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh Monday, April 13, 2015.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Keith Srakocic
Pittsburgh Pirates鈥� Pedro Alvarez celebrates as he heads home after hitting a solo home run to lead off the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers in the Pirates home opener baseball game, Monday, April 13, 2015, in Pittsburgh. The Pirates won 5-4.
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Josh Harrison used his bat to make sure the Pirates got off to a good start and used his glove to help secure a happy ending against Detroit on Monday afternoon at PNC Park.
Harrison, who recently signed a four-year contract extension, hit a lead-off, first-pitch home run in the bottom of the first to give the Pirates the lead for good and started a key double play in the ninth inning.
Mark Melancon fought through a rocky outing to strike out pinch-hitter Victor Martinez and wrap up a 5-4 victory in Pittsburgh鈥檚 home opener, handing the red-hot Tigers (6-1) their first loss of the season in the interleague matchup.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why every pitch counts, every pitch matters,鈥� Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 take things for granted.鈥�
The regular-season record crowd of 39,933 had seen just about a perfect game from the Pirates (3-4) until Melancon was roughed up for three runs in the ninth to put the fans on edge.
Before that, the crowd had plenty to cheer about as Gerrit Cole pitched six-plus strong innings, and Pedro Alvarez and Corey Hart also homered.
Harrison lit up the park with his long ball off starter and loser Anibal Sanchez to give Pittsburgh a quick 1-0 lead.
鈥淚t was a fastball. I was just looking out over the plate,鈥� said Harrison, who had two of his team鈥檚 nine hits. 鈥淗e left it up and I put a good swing on it.鈥�
Harrison entered the game hitting just .158, but was considered a spark plug for the team last year, and showed that again on Monday.
鈥淛osh has been up there battling and trying to work some things out,鈥� Hurdle said, 鈥淵ou like to think you can set the tone, I don鈥檛 know how much you do, but to put a good swing on a ball, he felt better and it gives a little boost to confidence in the dugout.
鈥淗e鈥檚 got that capability of doing that. He鈥檚 able to step up and do something that really gets your attention, and that鈥檚 what he did again today.鈥�
Cole got the Tigers鈥� attention by blanking their potent lineup until he ran into trouble in the seventh.
The Pirates held a 2-0 lead at that point thanks to Harrison鈥檚 single, Gregory Polanco鈥檚 double and Andrew McCutchen鈥檚 sacrifice fly in the third.
After mustering only one hit through six innings, Detroit loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh when Miguel Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes singled around a J.D. Martinez walk.
Jared Hughes relieved Cole and got out of the jam with minimal damage by inducing a double play from Nick Castellanos as a run scored and then retiring Alex Avila on a foul pop to Harrison.
Hughes gave credit to his defense for the double play, which was started on a backhand snag by shortstop Jordy Mercer.
鈥淭hese guys are making great plays for us, and that wasn鈥檛 just a can of corn, routine double play,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淭hat was a tough one and they got it done.鈥�
Cole was charged with the single run on three hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.
Sanchez (1-1), like Cole, was strong through six but ran out of gas soon after. He had retired 12 in a row heading into the seventh. Five pitches later, Sanchez was gone and the Pirates were up 5-1.
Alvarez led off the seventh with a home run to center field, his third, to make it 3-1. After Francisco Cervelli reached on an infield single, Hurdle sent up pinch-hitter Corey Hart, who blasted a home run over the left-field wall to make it 5-1 and chase Sanchez.
It was Hart鈥檚 1,000th career hit.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 realize it was my 1,000th hit until I got in the dugout and guys were talking about it,鈥� said Hart, who the Pirates signed in the offseason to improve their bench. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to hang around long enough to get that number.
鈥淚鈥檓 just happy and blessed to still be playing baseball late in my career. Any time you can help out the ball club, it鈥檚 exciting.鈥�
Sanchez gave up five runs on eight hits with no walks and nine striketouts in 6 1/3 innings.
Tony Watson kept the lead at four with a perfect eighth, but the Tigers mounted a comeback against Melancon in the ninth.
Ian Kinsler and Cabrera led off the inning with back-to-back doubles to make it 5-2 and J.D. Martinez followed with his fourth home run to slice the gap to one. Cespedes then singled, but Melancon got Castellanos to hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Harrison, who fired to second baseman Neil Walker to start the key double play.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to pick two points of a game in which to turn double plays, I don鈥檛 think we could鈥檝e hand picked two better ones,鈥� Hurdle said.
When asked if he got a bigger thrill out of his home run or the double play, Harrison picked neither.
鈥淎ctually the strikeout that Melancon came up with,鈥� Harrison said. 鈥淭he home run and the double play were nice, but sealing the victory is what really put a smile on our face. Melancon made a good pitch there.
鈥淭hat was a good feeling to raise the Jolly Roger.鈥�