CHICAGO – Neil Walker just kept coming around third and with a hard slide he capped a two-run rally in the ninth inning against Cubs closer Carlos Marmol that sent the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 victory Sunday.
What a way to kick off the season.
The Pirates took two of three against Chicago in the three-game set. They won only four road series last year — two at Wrigley Field.
“It goes back to the aggressive baserunning trend, try to be smart and try to be aggressive,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Nick (Leyva) is a very aggressive third base coach and Neil plays the game that way when he’s on the bases. Once he saw the play develop from second base, he knew there was a very good shot he was going to pull something off and he did.”
With the Cubs leading 4-3, Pittsburgh’s Garrett Jones led off the ninth with a walk against Marmol (0-1) and Walker singled before Lyle Overbay sacrificed to put runners at second and third.
Pedro Alvarez hit a slow roller to shortstop Starlin Castro. As Jones raced home, Castro’s throw to first pulled Carlos Pena off the bag and Walker rounded third. Pena threw to the
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