Field Level Media
Aug 7, 2018
Jameson Taillon threw his second career complete game, both coming this season, and Starling Marte, Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer homered as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 10-2 in Denver on Tuesday night.
Mercer and Harrison drove in three runs each as Pittsburgh ended a three-game losing streak.
Taillon (9-8) also threw a complete game against Cincinnati on April 8.
Charlie Blackmon had two singles and recorded his 1,000th career hit for Colorado.
Marte gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead in the first inning with his 17th home run, a one-out shot off starter Chad Bettis. Pittsburgh tacked on four more in the fourth on only two hits. Gregory Polanco walked, David Freese singled and one out later Francisco Cervelli walked.
After a sacrifice fly made it 2-0, Mercer homered to center to make it 5-0.
Pittsburgh made it a rout in the fifth. Three straight singles scored one run, a sacrifice fly drove in another and Cervelli's RBI double chased Bettis.
Bettis (5-2), who missed five weeks with a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand, was activated from the 10-day disabled list before the game. He allowed nine runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out three.
Jake McGee came on and allowed a two-run homer to Harrison in the seventh inning to make it 10-0.
Taillon gave up his only two runs in the sixth on Carlos Gonzalez's two-run double.
Taillon got Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story to end the inning and then worked out of a jam in the seventh after the first two batters singled.
The game featured two starting pitchers who battled testicular cancer last year. Bettis was diagnosed in the fall of 2016 and after surgery and chemotherapy reported to spring training in 2017. An exam revealed the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes.
He left the team for treatment and made his season debut in August.
Taillon had surgery in May 2017 to treat his testicular cancer and returned to the Pirates six weeks later.
--Field Level Media