Even Pirates (28-9) can muster success on a bleary-eyed Saturday morning as they finished their game against Columbia with a 5 to 3 victory. The Pirates performance added heat to the already hot and humid weather, helping to fire-up some big thunderstorms later in the afternoon.

During the second inning of the contest Mike Snyder found himself at first base after a single. John Ralston followed that with a walk, sending Snyder to second base. A wild pitch allowed our Pirates to advance one base after which Matt Murakami singled to left field bringing  Snyder home for the first run of the game.

In the fourth inning Mike Snyder was in instant-replay mode as he again found himself on third base when Zach Costello hit a sacrifice fly. Snyder took advantage of the opportunity and scored the second run of the game. Colombia  battled back in the sixth inning and tied the score 2 to 2.

The seventh inning belonged to the Pirates as they added three additional runs to their booty. Alex Guerra was on base with a single up the middle after which he stole second. George Piccirilli was hit by a pitch.  Matt Snyder smacked a double sending Guerra across home plate and Piccirilli to third. Chad Morgan stepped up to the plate and singled to right center driving in Piccirilli and Snyder  for the final runs of the game.

The Pirate defense was in good form during the early Saturday show-down. Connor Mielock finished five and two-thirds innings allowing just 3 hits while striking out 4. Chris Yates commanded the mound for two and one-third innings with one hit and one strike out. The game ended with Mike Manfro on the hill allowing just one hit and no runs during his one full inning, posting his league leading, 10th save of the season, as once again a Ralston to Murakami to Snyder double play sent Pirate fans home happy.

Statistician on a Mission

Click this for the work of our favorite statistician from July 25.