PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - The Pittsburgh Pirates outlasted the Philadelphia Phillies in a 12-inning pitching duel for a 2-1 win at PNC Park Friday.
Xavier Paul hit a two-out single and stole second base to move into scoring position and Jose Tabata delivered the winning run with a single to left field for his second RBI of the game.
Both starting pitchers, Cole Hamels for Philadelphia and Jeff Karstens for Pittsburgh, were in sparkling form.
"You'd be hard pressed to find a better ballgame on a better night in front of a better crowd than the one you saw tonight," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle told reporters.
Hamels allowed one run on just one hit in eight innings while striking out four and walking three, while Karstens allowed one run on four hits while striking out two in seven innings.
"To go in and be able to pitch deep into the ballgame, that's my intent and I was able to do it," said Hamels.
"Unfortunately, I wasn't as happy with the way I executed pitches. I left a lot up and they were just able to hit it at guys, and we played some really good defense."
Four Pirates relievers combined for five shutout innings in support of Karstens and Daniel Moskos collected his first win for pitching a perfect top of the 12th inning. Danys Baez took the loss.
(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario. Editing by Alastair Himmer)
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