McCutchen helps free grounds crew member swallowed by tarp

(Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP).

There was a pretty scary moment during Tuesday night’s Padres-Pirates game in Pittsburgh.

Stewart was a late replacement for Francisco Cervelli; the reason given was something such as “manager prerogative”, but in light of the recent spate of injuries that are suddenly dogging the Pirates, the late scratch of Cervelli and his absence in the dugout throughout the game is a cause for concern.

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Gregory Polanco had the go-ahead hit in the eighth inning after helping with a save in the third.

All-Star Andrew McCutchen and infielder Sean Rodriguez grabbed sections on the tarp, billowing in the wind, despite the ground crews efforts to contain it. The PNC Park grounds crew had the unenviable task of putting tarp on the field. “We’re just fortunate to be there and help a guy out”.

“Usually you see it on the blooper reel where someone gets picked up by the tarp or the tarp goes over”, said Rodriguez. “It’s not a record thing from our standpoint, but what the value is on the market, if we think there’s going to be good deals, whether that’s adding to the club or changing the look of the club a little bit, that’s what this time of year is for”. “So when that happened I was, like, it’s a plastic wave coming right at him”.

The Atlanta Braves put up four runs in the first two innings as they eased to a 5-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, while Preston Tucker had four hits in the Houston Astros’ 9-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

The Pirates scored all three runs in the eighth with two outs as they finally wore down the opposing pitcher. The double extended McCutchen’s hitting streak to fourteen games, a career best. He had a 13-gamer as a rookie in 2009. San Diego lost its fourth straight game and was held to two runs or fewer for the seventh time in eight games. With one out, McCutchen worked Maurer for a walk and moved to second on Jung Ho Kang’s ground ball single to center. Morton surrendered three runs on four hits in six innings.

Morton is 4-1 with a 2.65 ERA in six career starts against the Padres. The rookie’s hit came immediately after Padres left fielder Justin Upton reached above the fence to steal a potential two-run home run from McCutchen.