  Van den Hurk back in Majors; loss in first outing
Nederlands
 CINCINNATI, Ohio (USA) -
Dutch pitcher Rick van den Hurk is back in the Major League.
The righthander was recalled on Monday by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Indianpolis Indians.
Van den Hurk then had to travel to Cincinnati where the Pirates were playing against the Cincinnati Reds and made his comeback in the Majors in the evening when he was used in relief.
...Van den Hurk when he was...
...Toronto in Spring Training...
(© Photo: Henk Seppen) |
Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning, but Cincinnati came alongside by scoring a run in the fourth and two in the seventh at bat.
With the score tied at 3-3, the game went into extra innings.
In the bottom of the 14th inning, Van den Hurk entered the game and gave up a lead-off single to Devin Mesoraco, who then advanced on a fielder's choice-grounder by Brandon Phillips.
Next, Chris Heisey lined out and Van den Hurk then struckout Joey Votto.
The runners then advanced on a wild pitch and that was followed by a single to short by Ryan Ludwick that enabled Mesoraco to score and ended the game.
Mariekson 'Didi' Gregorius entered the game as pinch-runner for Cincinnati in the seventh inning, then stayed in the game as short stop.
Gregorius batted three times in the remainder of the game, but just missed facing Van den Hurk, as he had just batted in the inning before the latter took the mound.
This season, Van den Hurk was 14-5, pitching in 22 games (20 as a starter) and struckout 118 batters in 129 1/3 inning, while walking only 36.
Van den Hurk started the year in the organisation of the Baltimore Orioles, where he was released on February 3.
He then signed a contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on February 22, but he was then put on waivers on March 21.
He was then claimed by the Cleveland Indians the same day, but after only eight days, he was designated for assignment on March 29.
On April 4, he was outrighted to the Triple-A team of the Indians, but Van den Hurk opted for Free Agency on April 6.
A few days later, he signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he pitched for its Triple-A team Indianapolis Indians this season.
(September 11)
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