Major League Baseball
Pittsburgh 13, Colorado 5
When: 8:40 PM ET, Friday, July 21, 2017
Where: Coors Field, Denver, Colorado
Temperature: 73°
Umpires: Home - Alfonso Marquez, 1B - Chad Fairchild, 2B - David Rackley, 3B - Joe West
Attendance: 41192

DENVER -- After five successive comeback victories, the onrushing Pittsburgh Pirates avoided another down-to-the-wire ending Friday night.

They revved up their offense at Coors Field, watched starter Trevor Williams rebound from a shaky first inning and extended their season-high winning streak to six games by pounding the Colorado Rockies 13-5.

The win moved the Pirates (50-49) above .500 for the first time since they were 3-2 on April 9. The Pirates have won nine of their past 10 games and 12 of their past 14, and they have won nine of their past 10 games at Coors Field dating to July 27, 2014. The loss ended Colorado's four-game winning streak.

Pittsburgh used an 18-hit attack to score in seven different innings and was never retired in order. The win left the surging Pirates two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers and one game behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central.

Josh Bell, who finished a homer shy of the cycle, had a career-high four hits and four RBIs for Pittsburgh. Jordy Mercer hit a two-run homer. Andrew McCutchen, who reached base five times, had three hits and three RBIs and scored three runs. Starling Marte had two hits and scored four runs.

"We were very disciplined at the plate," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "We made people pitch. We made them throw it over the plate, get it in the strike zone. We were very, very stubborn with our at-bats."

Williams (4-4), facing the Rockies for the first time, allowed seven hits and five runs in 6 2/3 innings. He gave up three runs in the first after the Pirates had taken a 2-0 lead but then blanked the Rockies until Nolan Arenado hit his 22nd homer in the sixth.

That blast increased Arenado's major league-leading RBI total to 82 but did little to affect the outcome, because the Pirates were leading 10-3 when Arenado came to bat. Arenado's homer was Colorado's first hit since Tony Wolters led off the second with a double.

Wiliams threw 26 pitches in the first when Arenado singled home a run after Williams walked Charlie Blackmon and gave up a double to DJ LeMahieu on a grounder inside first base. Gerardo Parra followed Arenado with a single, and after Ian Desmond grounded into a double play, Arenado scored when Carlos Gonzalez flared a single to left.

"I knew we were going to score runs tonight," Williams said "It was just a matter of slugging it out with (Rockies starter Jeff) Hoffman. It was a good fist fight between me and him. Just had to keep persevering and going out there."

The confrontation with Hoffman (6-2) didn't last long. Colorado's starter pitched a season-low three innings, gave up a career-high nine hits and seven runs and allowed a career-high four walks. His 82-pitch outing ended after he faced three batters in the fourth.

"It was my fastball command," Hoffman said. "I couldn't locate it, especially when I needed it. When you can't locate that one, it is really hard to get out of any kind of jam."

After his 26-pitch first inning, Williams needed just 74 more pitches to complete 6 2/3 innings.

"He was just diligent with his pitches, steadfast and stubborn," Hurdle said. "The slider played. (So did) the fastball. His changeup worked a little bit as well. Stayed aggressive, never got off his game plan."

Entering Friday, the Pirates had scored no more than four runs in any of their five successive victories, winning three of those games by one run and two by two runs.

The Pirates scored two runs in the first on Bell's single and David Freese's run-scoring groundout. Bell doubled home three runs with two outs in the second, the only hit in the inning as Hoffman loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter.

Josh Harrison led off the fourth with a double, scoring to put the Pirates ahead 6-3 when McCutchen followed with a single. Bell singled, sending McCutchen to third and taking second when left fielder Gerardo Parra bobbled the ball.

After Freese was hit with a pitch to load the bases, Gregory Polanco hustled to first to avoid hitting into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded. The effort netted a run to make it 7-3, but Polanco reached for his left hamstring after he crossed first base and left the game with what was described as hamstring discomfort. He is listed day to day.

McCutchen singled home a run with two outs in the fifth. And Mercer's two-run homer with two outs in the sixth inning boosted the Pirates' lead to 10-3. It was Mercer's ninth homer and came against Jordan Lyles, who has yielded a home run in three straight outings and 11 in 44 2/3 innings this season.

NOTES: Pirates RF Gregory Polanco left in the fourth inning with left hamstring discomfort and is listed day to day. ... Pirates RHP Jhan Marinez's double in the eighth was his first major league hit. ... Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon's season- and career-high-tying 14-game hitting streak ended. ... Rockies pitchers hit a franchise-record tying four batters, which last happened April 24, 2005, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. ... Rockies RHP Tyler Chatwood (right calf strain) threw 35 pitches in two innings of live batting practice for the first time since he was injured July 15. ... Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado homered on three consecutive at-bats Wednesday against San Diego. The only other Rockies player to accomplish that feat is Andres Galarraga against the Padres on June 25, 1995. ... Pirates C Francisco Cervelli had hits in his past five at-bats before grounding into an inning-ending double play in the first.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Pittsburgh   Colorado
Trevor Williams Player Jeff Hoffman
Win W/L Loss
6.2 IP 3.0
4 Strikeouts 2
7 Hits 9
6.75 ERA 21.00
Hitting
Pittsburgh   Colorado
Josh Bell Player Nolan Arenado
4 Hits 2
4 RBI 2
0 HR 1
7 TB 5
.667 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Pittsburgh 18 1 28 .429 24 5 13 6 2 0
Colorado 9 1 15 .273 10 7 5 2 0 1