Last December, the Pirates posted a $5,002,015 bid for negotiating rights with Korean mega-star shortstop Jung Ho Kang. Five million, the number their front office had settled on, plus 2015, which team president Frank Coonelly hoped would be “a very special year for the Pittsburgh Pirates.”
It’s been special, all right. Kang drilled two home runs, and Starling Marte gave the Pirates a 3-2 walk-off win against the San Francisco Giants with a first-pitch home run off right-hander George Kontos with two outs in the ninth Saturday afternoon at PNC Park.
Marte’s 15th homer was just the Pirates’ fourth hit of the game, matching the Giants' hit total.