Falter carries no-hitter into 7th inning, Pirates beat Marlins for sweep of season series

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh left-hander Bailey Falter carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and the Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 3-1 on Wednesday afternoon for a sweep of the season series.

Falter (8-7) allowed three walks before Jonah Bride dropped a single into left field with one out in the seventh.

“I don’t really worry about that stuff,” Falter said, referring to the no-hit bid. "My job is to go out there and put up zeroes and get those guys off the field as quickly as possible.”

The 27-year-old Falter gave up a leadoff single to Cristian Pache in the eighth before being pulled on 93 pitches (57 strikes) after getting the first out with Kyle Stowers flying to center. Four of Falter’s five strikeouts came in the first five batters, striking out the side in the first inning on 10 pitches.

“I actually had a terrible bullpen session, so I came out there, guns hot, and told myself, ‘Dude, I’m just going to grip this and rip it and see where it takes us.’ That’s what happens," Falter said.

David Bednar pitched the ninth but could not pick up his first save since Aug. 23. Otto Lopez led off with a double before Jake Burger reached on an error by shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Bednar struck out Bride and Jesús Sánchez before Pache hit an RBI single up the middle.

Jalen Beeks came in for Bednar, allowing an infield single to Stowers that loaded the bases, and got Xavier Edwards to fly out to right for his 10th save.

“I think we’re getting better,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We’re in a definite, much better spot than we have (been) in the last two years with our starting pitching. We’re deeper than we have been. We have to continue to build things offensively and continue to grow that depth.”

Jonathan Bermúdez (0-1) got through two innings for Miami, allowing three runs and three hits with one walk in his first major-league start.

The Marlins lost each of their seven games against the Pirates this season. They were swept to open the season in Miami, losing four games by a combined score of 31-17 before dropping the past three in Pittsburgh.

“Those guys fought,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said. “There’s no doubt about it, they fought all three games. Had a chance to win or tie all three games. We just couldn’t come up with the big hit late. Falter was really good, fastball at the top of the zone that we couldn’t get on top of. Not a lot of hard contact. Not a lot of great plays behind him, just a lot of weak contact and strikeouts.”

Pittsburgh scored twice in the first inning. Bryan Reynolds hit a one-out double into right field, later scoring when Oneil Cruz walked with the bases loaded; Joey Bart went home on a sacrifice fly from Connor Joe.

Jared Triolo extended the lead to 3-0 the next inning with his eighth homer of the season.

“It was kind of sick,” Triolo said of watching Falter. “It was really sick, actually. But not very cool to not talk to him for a while, but cool to see him do that.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: RHP John McMillon replaced Bermúdez to start the third inning, allowing a leadoff single to Nick Gonzales before being immediately removed after two fastballs in the high 80s. He was pulled with tightness in his right forearm/elbow area, Schumaker said.

UP NEXT

Marlins: RHP Darren McCaughan (0-0, 7.40 ERA) will start Thursday to open a four-game series at Washington. The Nationals have not announced a starter.

Pirates: RHP Luis Ortiz (6-5, 3.26) will take the mound Friday, opening a three-game series against the Royals. Kansas City has not announced a starter.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb