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New York Yankees Lose Series Opener To Pittsburgh Pirates

By Kenneth Teape

Apr 21, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner (R) slides past a tag attempt by Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli (L) to score a run during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 21, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner (R) slides past a tag attempt by Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli (L) to score a run during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New York Yankees lost their series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night.

The New York Yankees road struggles continued against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday evening. The Yankees are coming off an impressive 8-1 homestand but were not able to carry that momentum into PNC Park.

C.C. Sabathia took the mound for the Yankees tonight and he struggled early on. The Yankees got into an early hole that they were unable to get out of as Sabathia was hurt by the long ball.

Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer hit a leadoff home run for the Pirates as the first three Pirates hitters reached base. A second run would come courtesy of a David Freese infield single which scored Josh Harrison. Sabathia would stop the bleeding by getting former teammate Francisco Cervelli to ground into a double play.

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The Pirates wasted no time in the second inning to add to their lead. Jose Osuna recorded the first hit of his major league career to begin the second inning, roping a triple to right field. Fellow rookie Josh Bell would then knock him home with a two-run home run, staking Pittsburgh to a 4-0 lead.

Sabathia would settle down after that and keep the Pirates off the board the remainder of his outing. Sabathia gutted through five innings, giving up seven runs and two walks that resulted in four runs. He also struck out three.

The Yankees would get one run back in the third inning when Chase Headley hit a hard double to right field. Osuna made an error in right field, which allowed Brett Gardner to score.

The Yankees would inch closer in the fifth inning courtesy of another Pirates error. Harrison was unable to keep a ball in front of him in a shift, as Jacoby Ellsbury and Aaron Judge scored. The Yankees made Taylor Glasnow work hard, as the Pirates starter didn’t even make it through five innings; he was taken out after Harrison’s error.

The Yankees were right back in the game but would give the runs back in the seventh inning. With two outs, Andrew McCutchen hit a pop up into shallow right field. Starlin Castro was shifted over, so he had a long run. He would drop the pop-up, allowing Mercer to score and McCutchen to end up at second base.

Freese would once again hurt the Yankees, as he singled in McCutchen for the sixth Pirates run of the evening. That would be too much of a deficit to overcome, as the Pirates bullpen held the Yankees scoreless over 4.2 innings pitched.

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The Yankees will look to get back into the win column tomorrow afternoon. Runs could be tough to come by as Michael Pineda will face off against Jameson Taillon.

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