MIAMI -- Marlins Park can be a frustrating place for even the most powerful hitters. The lime-green wall in center field is 418 feet away, but it often feels like a mile. All week, the Pirates watched balls get swallowed up by the vast outfield expanse.
But Pedro Alvarez made the park's sizable dimensions look small in the fourth inning Thursday night, blasting a 443-foot solo shot off Marlins lefty Justin Nicolino that wound up being the deciding run in the Pirates' 2-1 win.
But the Bucs weren't surprised by Alvarez's display of power, even if the ball went into territory -- the bushes beyond the center-field fence -- that only Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton regularly reaches.