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PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates didn't feel like celebrating this victory, not at all. One of their teammates is down, and they're not sure when he'll be back. The Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies 6-3 Monday, but starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong was taken off the field on a cart, holding a towel on his bloodied face, after being hit in the face by a fastball in the second inning.
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The 38-year-old Vogelsong was taken to nearby Allegheny General Hospital with what the team said was a left eye injury. He was to be kept overnight, and the Pirates said there probably wouldn't be an update until Tuesday.
"They're still evaluating what's going on," said pitcher Gerrit Cole, one of Vogelsong's closest friends on the team. "It's particularly difficult to see anyone in that situation. It's unfortunate. He was throwing the ball well and was excited to pitch today."
Vogelsong, who rejoined the Pirates this season after last pitching for them 10 years ago, was making only his second start.
Opposing pitcher Jordan Lyles still look unnerved several hours after hitting Vogelsong on the left side of his face with a 92-mph two-seam fastball on an 0-2 count.
"It's tough to see. I hope he's able to get back to his teammates shortly," Lyles said. "It was 0-2, and it kind of ran in a little bit -- and it ran in too much."
Lyles looked down toward the plate from the mound and saw something no pitcher wants to see.
"He was bleeding a little bit," Lyles said. "It's tough. It's tough, especially (Vogelsong being) the other pitcher. You just wish (him) the best."
After that scary moment, the Pirates stayed composed enough to pull out a win in which Josh Harrison drove in two runs with a pair of singles and Rockies first baseman Mark Reynolds' two-base throwing error scored two more runs during Pittsburgh's four-run third.
Right-hander Wilfredo Boscan, getting his first major league win in only his second major-league game, replaced Vogelsong and limited the Rockies to Charlie Blackmon's two-run double in the fifth over four innings. Boscan also added an RBI single in his first career at-bat during the Pirates' big inning.
"I'm very happy, this is a dream come true to come to big leagues and get my first win," Boscan said through his catcher-interpreter Francisco Cervelli. "I understood I needed to go a couple of extra innings and I was ready for that."
The Pirates won for the ninth time in 10 games against the Rockies in a makeup of a Sunday rainout in which the two teams unsuccessfully waited nearly four hours to play.
Pirates relievers Boscan, Neftali Feliz, Tony Watson, Jared Hughes and Mark Melancon combined for seven innings, with Melancon getting the final two outs for his 15th save despite yielding DJ LeMahieu's sacrifice fly.
Pittsburgh quickly jumped on Lyles, who gave up four earned runs and five hits and walked three in his fifth ineffective start this season. He rejoined the team from the minors only on Friday.
Lyles' wildness and inability to hold runners on base hurt him in the second, when the Pirates scored twice on Harrison's RBI single, a Lyles wild pitch, stolen bases by Harrison and Starling Marte and the hit-by-pitch of Vogelsong that came with the bases loaded.
"He lost some command, got in bad counts, (made) some walks ," manager Walt Weiss said. "The command wasn't real sharp as the game went along."
The Pirates chased Lyles in the third following singles by Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco, another stolen base -- by Polanco -- a walk, another Harrison RBI single, and Reynolds' throwing error as he tried to get McCutchen at the plate on Francisco Cervelli's grounder. Both McCutchen and Polanco scored on the play. Boscan also contributed his RBI single.
"I told myself if that first pitch is down the middle, I'm going to take a swing at it," he said.
Left-hander Chris Rusin replaced Lyles and pitched two-hit ball over 4 2/3 shutout innings, but the Rockies still lost their fourth in five games overall and their 12th in their last 13 against Pittsburgh.
Home plate umpire Jeff Nelson also left the game after apparently getting debris in his left eye during a play at the plate in the third inning. The three remaining umpires finished the game.
NOTES: Pirates SS Jordy Mercer and 3B Jung Ho Kang each got a second successive day off -- neither was in the lineup for Sunday's rained-out game. Manager Clint Hurdle said the plan was to give them two days off in a row, and that didn't change with the rainout. ... Pirates RHP Juan Nicasio will make his next start on schedule, Hurdle said, rather than being pushed up despite pitching only one inning Sunday. However, Rockies RHP Chad Bettis will move up and start Wednesday at Boston. RHP Jon Gray moves back to Thursday against the Red Sox, and RHP Eddie Butler starts Friday at home against San Francisco. ... Rockies manager Walt Weiss was back Monday after returning to Denver on Sunday for son Bo's graduation from Regis Jesuit High School -- a road trip within a road trip for Weiss. ... Rockies RHP Tyler Chatwood (0.53) and the Cubs' Jake Arrieta (0.97) are the only major league starters with road ERAs under 1.00. ... The official paid attendance was 34,529, but there didn't appear to be more than 5,000 in the PNC Park stands for the unscheduled makeup game.
