New York: Josh Harrison homered in the seventh inning to make up for a base-running blunder and made a diving catch in left field to help preserve the Pittsburgh Pirates’ first win in the Bronx in 54 years, 5-3 over the New York Yankees on Sunday for a doubleheader split.
Mark Teixeira had a two-run single and Brett Gardner added an RBI double as New York beat Pittsburgh 4-3 in the opener of the first single-admission twinbill at Yankee Stadium since 2004.
Starling Marte hit a two-run homer off Vidal Nuno in the sixth inning of the second game after striking out four times in the opener. Marte, though, left with left hamstring tightness in the seventh inning. Neil Walker and Tony Sanchez homered for Pittsburgh in the opener.
Harrison, who ran into the third out of the fifth inning before a run could cross the plate, switched from third base to left field to start the eighth. With pinch-hitter Derek Jeter on first following a single, Yangervis Solarte hit a sharp liner to left. Harrison raced to his right and caught it with a fully extended dive toward the line.
Former Yankees catcher Chris Stewart had two RBIs for the Pirates. Fill-in closer Mark Melancon, who broke into the big leagues with New York, pitched a perfect ninth for his sixth save.
The Pirates had lost all eight games at Yankee Stadium in inter-league play. They last beat New York on the road in Game 5 of the 1960 World Series.
Solarte homered and singled for the Yankees, who had won four straight.
Gerrit Cole (4-3), who turned down the Yankees when they drafted him in 2008 to go to UCLA, struck out eight in six sharp innings to help the Pirates snap a three-game skid.
The teams looked as if they lost focus during the 38-minute break between games, coming out for Game 2 in front of a fraction of the 46,858 who attended the opener and making four quick errors.
