Dickerson’s bunt lifts Pirates over Marlins

Associated Press

MIAMI

Corey Dickerson has been one of the hottest hitters in the National League.

So when he stepped to the plate for Pittsburgh in the ninth inning of a scoreless game, with runners at the corners and one out, his teammates were sure he’d swing away.

Instead, Dickerson bunted. And it worked, barely.

Dickerson popped up a bunt, but it landed in between Miami pitcher Brad Ziegler and second baseman Starlin Castro and allowed a run to score Saturday night that gave the Pirates a 1-0 win over the Marlins.

“I knew all I had to do was get the ball down and [Starling] Marte is going to score with the ‘W.’ Be selfless and give myself up and we’d win the ballgame,” Dickerson said. “It was as simple as that. I wanted to win. I hate losing. I was trying to do something simple to get the ‘W.”’

Dickerson extended his hitting streak to nine games. He is 16 for 36 (.444) with nine RBIs during that span.

“I think some of the guys couldn’t believe I did it because I had a hit streak doing or I never bunt or it’s easy time to try to drive in runs,” Dickerson said. “But Ziegler has been around a long time and he can induce a double play better than anybody and I was trying to do something simple and try to win the ball game for us.”

The decision by Dickerson surprised Hurdle.

“Corey took it upon himself to make that play happen and it just shows you the selflessness,” Hurdle said. “He’s got an eight-game hitting streak coming into the game. I talked to him he said, ‘With Marte on, all I have to do is get the ball on the ground.’ It would have looked a little more refreshing for me if it would have gone on the ground initially, but that’s his mindset. He just wanted to help us win a ballgame.”

Pirates starter Jameson Taillon and Miami counterpart Trevor Richards kept the game scoreless into the later innings.