It was shaping up as a tough weekend, but the Pirates were able to end off on a positive.
The Hub City Paving Pirates won one out of three on a mainland road trip, losing 8-2 and then 8-2 again to the Coquitlam Reds on Saturday and then getting shut out 7-0 versus the North Delta Blue Jays on Sunday before winning the rematch in extra innings, 5-3.
In the weekend finale, the Pirates hit the ball well all game, but gave up two runs in the bottom of the seventh to go into the eighth inning tied 3-3. In the top of the eighth, Matt Skingle was the first man up and hit a home run to give his team the lead right back.
“In right field I think it’s 325 [feet] down the line and there’s a huge tree about 20 feet behind that, and he hit it three-quarters of the way up the tree,” said Doug Rogers, Pirates manager. “It was just a bomb. As long as it stayed fair, we knew that it had almost enough distance for two home runs.”
The Pirates tacked on another run and closed it out.
“I was really impressed with the way they kind of grinded that out and didn’t just cave in,” said Rogers. “It was really good to see. So hopefully that’s something they can build on … You never know, we could get on a roll here.”
Garrett Goodall threw a complete game in Sunday’s win, with Ryan Stich earning the save. Will Drewry was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, Goodall hit a single and a double and Skingle also had two hits.
In the early game, Jays ace Tyler Hoefer struck out 13 in a no-hitter and Rogers was impressed with the big right-hander.
“He’s legit. There’s not going to be many teams in the league that are going to beat that guy,” said the Pirates manager.
In Saturday’s late game, Skingle was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Chris Vlaj also had two hits.
GAME ON … The Pirates visit the Victoria Mariners for a doubleheader on Saturday (July 2), then host the Victoria HarbourCats in a nine-inning exhibition game Sunday at 3 p.m. at Serauxmen Stadium. For more on that game, please click here.
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Pirates play HarbourCats in an exhibition game at Serauxmen Stadium this Sunday… https://t.co/NJGy6hmF2u #baseball pic.twitter.com/JRHpBeunIh
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) June 27, 2016
