Kevin Newman guides Pirates to victory over Rockies

DENVER — The Pirates scored seven runs in the first inning, Trevor Williams threw seven innings of three-run ball and Kevin Newman and Adam Frazier combined for eight hits and six RBIs to lift the visiting team to an 11-8 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night.

It didn’t come without a little excitement, however, as the Rockies (59-76) rallied with five runs with two outs in the eighth inning.

First, Montana DuRapau was chased in the eighth, followed by Michael Feliz, and an 11-3 lead evaporated into just an 11-8 advantage, making things far from comfortable for the Pirates (57-77).

Francisco Liriano and Felipe Vazquez came in to finish the final 1 1/3 innings of the game, squashing the Rockies’ rally and avoiding what would have been a major waste of offensive output by the Bucs.

“We’ve been told, especially by (manager) Clint (Hurdle), that no lead here is safe,” Williams said. “We were kind of tip-toeing on that, but my job is to continue to pitch and give depth for our team. … I’m glad I just kept (things) out of reach (for Colorado) throughout the game.”

The Pirates had 15 hits with Newman, Frazier, Colin Moran and Jose Osuna all recorded multi-hit games. Frazier was 4 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Newman smacked the second pitch of the game over the left field wall for his eighth home run of the year and hit another one in the fifth inning. He was 4 for 4 with four RBIs, recording his first multi-home run game and his second four-hit performance in less than a week.

A triple away from the cycle at the end of the third inning, Newman was hit by a pitch in the seventh in his final at-bat.

Don’t expect to find him complaining, though.

“As I’d walk into the dugout, everybody was yelling ‘hit a triple, hit a triple, hit a triple,” he said. “I was just trying to get another good ball to hit.”

After Newman’s first-inning homer, Moran’s 25th double of the year plated Bryan Reynolds and Starling Marte, putting the Pirates up 3-0. Frazier, Jacob Stallings and Newman, batting for the second time in the inning, hit three straight RBI singles with Newman’s scoring two.

Williams (7-6, 5.26 ERA) ran into a bit of trouble in the second inning, giving up two and in the third, allowing one, but overall, he was sharp, needing just 88 pitches through seven innings of work. He struck out six, his highest total since July 27 and allowed no walks for the first time since late June.

“We have all the respect in the world for that offensive team over there,” Hurdle said. “You’ve got to pitch nine complete innings to put them down and at the end of the day, we were able to do that, and it started with Trevor’s outing. That was a grown-man outing — seven innings in this ballpark.”

Osuna hit a 440-foot home run to left field in the fifth, and, from there, things quieted down as Williams kept working. After he exited following the seventh, DuRapau entered and although he got two outs, ran into trouble, eventually surrendering four runs that started with a Ryan McMahon RBI double.

Feliz entered and gave up another run without recording that elusive final out, so finally Hurdle turned to Liriano, who struck out Yonder Alonso on five pitches.

With the Pirates unable to add any insurance runs in their half of the ninth, Hurdle turned to Vazquez, who in nine pitches, five of which were over 100 mph, struck out two and got Daniel Murphy to line out, ending the game and preserving the win with his 24th save.

The Pirates and Rockies play Game 2 of a four-game series at 8:40 Friday night.