Bats, ‘pen come up clutch in Bucs’ Game 1 win

The Brewers loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth inning on Saturday afternoon, and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle had a decision to make. Should he let Ivan Nova face Travis Shaw? Pittsburgh only led by one run at the time, and one swing could have changed the game. But it was the first half of a doubleheader, so the Pirates needed innings from their veteran starter. Hurdle emerged from the Pirates dugout, took the ball from Nova and handed it to right-hander Richard Rodriguez. The move played out perfectly. Rodriguez struck out Shaw to leave the bases loaded and kick-start another strong performance by the Bucs’ high-leverage relief quartet in their 2-1 win over the Brewers.