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Pirates Morning Report: Baseball Ineptness 101

Final Score: Pirates 9 Reds 4

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates were just a little less inept than the Reds. The Reds were less inept at the plate than the Pirates were but made up for it by being a lot more inept at pitching. The Reds pitchers walked 8, and gave up 11 hits, including 4 home runs. The Pirates would have blown the Reds away except they loaded the bases twice with 0 outs and failed to score. The first time they had the top of the order coming up, and the second time the 9-1-2 hitters. The 2 hitter did not get up because Konnor Griffin hit into a double play after Henry Davis popped out. Once, they loaded the bases with 2 outs and failed to score. It wasn’t until the bottom of the 8th that they were able to break the game open when the Reds walked 2 batters in a row and Ryan O’Hearn hit his 2nd homer of the game to put the Pirates ahead 8-4. Esmeralda Valdez put icing on the cake by blasting a 461 ft. home run. This capped off a day where he went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs. He probably won’t be in the lineup again until Wednesday at the earliest. This game showcased 2 teams that are in the playoff hunt but showed quite convincingly that neither one of them will likely make it.

The Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates’ ineptness with the bases loaded could have been a key moment if they had lost. They had a 4-0 lead at one point, but the Reds erased that with Mitch Keller pitching, scoring 2 runs in the 4th and 5th innings. It was in the bottom of the 5th that Ryan O’Hearn launched a 1-out solo home run into the right-field seats to get the Pirates quickly back on top, 5-4. The score remained the same as the game headed into the top of the 8th. Carmen Mlodzinski had pitched a scoreless 7th. He started the 8th by giving up a single and a walk, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Nathaniel Lowe took an 0-2 pitch and blooped it into shallow center field. Konnor Griffin made a nice running leaping catch for the first out. Mlodzinski fell behind the next 2 batters, 2-0 and 3-1, but managed to get both out on a fly out and ground out. In the bottom of the 8th, the Pirates broke it open and avoided being swept by the pathetic Reds.

Next game: Tonight, the Phillies in Philadelphia. From now until July 30th, the Pirates will play nothing but contenders, including the Phillies, Braves, Brewers, Guardians, and Yankees. On July 30th, they will be playing the Reds again in Cincinnati. The Pirates’ record against the Brewers, Braves, Phillies, and Nationals is 4-9. These are the teams they will face leading up to the All-Star break. The Pirates currently sit at .500 with a 42-42 record and are 2.5 games out of a wild card spot. If they really want to make the playoffs, which is debatable, they need at least two solid relievers, one being a reliable closer. This team cannot afford to wait until the trade deadline to shore up the bullpen. They will have to give up something pretty decent to get that. I am not too sure they will do it. If they don’t, this team will fall flat in July.

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Pirates Morning Report: Good Day For Bad Hitters

Final Score: Pirates 7 Reds 9

Why the Pirates lost: The bullpen, walks, and mediocre defense did the Pirates in again. This time the Pirates did not walk a ton of batters—4—but 2 of them really came back to haunt them. Two bad hitters, Eugenio Suarez with an OPS of .655 and Jose Trevino with an OPS of .465, did some serious damage. Trevino went 2 for 4, driving in 2 runs and scoring one. Suarez hit the big go-ahead 3-run homer in the top of the 9th. Gregory Soto, in 4 of his last 7 outings, has given up 2 runs or more. He has given up 12 hits in 6 innings of work; in one outing, he did not retire a batter. He has not regularly closed games since 2022. Gee, I wonder why. Even though Soto lost the game in the 9th, this was a complete staff failure. Jared Jones, in 4 and 2/3 innings, gave up 4 runs, 3 earned, to see his ERA go up to 5.96. Of course, he gave up a home run. The bullpen for the day pitched the last 4 and 1/3 innings, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits. All of this wasted a big offensive performance by the Pirates. The Pirates’ awful hitter Jared Triolo, with an OPS of .592, went 3 for 4 with 1 RBI. The Pirates fall below .500 and are getting closer to last place.

Key Moments Of The Game: This game was tied 4-4 going into the 6th inning. In the top of the 6th, Jose Trevino got the big hit, driving in 2 runs to make the score 6-4. Yohan Ramirez hit a batter to load the bases. Elly De La Cruz, who has not had a hit in the series, hit into an inning-ending double play. If the Pirates had won, this would have been the key moment of the game. So would have Esmerlyn Valdez’s home run in the bottom of the 8th to give the Pirates a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the 9th, Soto walked De La Cruz after giving up a lead-off single. He induced Sal Stewart to hit into a 4-6-3 double play. This brought up left-hand hitting J.J. Bleday. He is hitting .200 against left-hand pitching. He has hit 3 of his 13 home runs against lefties. This is the guy that has to beat you. Instead, Soto walks him on 6 pitches. Bleday never swung at a pitch. Suarez came to bat. Against lefties he has 3 home runs in 43 at-bats for a home run every 14 at-bats. Against righties, he has 5 home runs in 152 at-bats for a home run every 30 at-bats. His on-base percentage is 48 points lower against right-handed pitchers. Soto was struggling. The Pirates ignored all of this, or maybe they don’t have access to such meaningful stats. It cost them the game.

Next game: This afternoon Reds, in Pittsburgh. In a series that I thought the Pirates needed to sweep they are one game away from being swept. Mitch Keller goes for the Pirates today. If he gets knocked around the Pirates will have two starters in their rotation with ERAs over 5. This entire pitching staff has taken a major step backward and there is no end in sight. The bullpen had a nice little run there but that is the key word, little. They did it against teams that have had a hard time scoring runs. I do not know what the pitching coaches are doing but it is not working. They cannot even play the injury card. The Pirate staff has been one of the healthiest in the majors. If something is not done soon, this team is not going to finish over .500 let alone make the playoffs.

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Pirates Morning Report: So Much For Sweeping The Reds

Final Score: Pirates 4 Reds 6

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates lost the battle of the bullpens. The Pirate bullpen had to cover the last 4 innings of the game. They gave up 2 runs on 2 hits. The Reds bullpen had to cover 3 and 2/3 innings. They gave up 0 runs on 3 hits, 1 walk and a hit by pitch. Paul Skenes had a bad 2nd inning, giving up 4 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks. For the other 4 innings, he gave up 2 hits, walking no one and striking out 6. The Pirates made their usual strange decisions. They started Jared Triolo over Nick Gonzales. They decided to pinch run for Esmerlyn Valdez, 22 years, instead of Marcell Ozuna, 35 years old. Konnor Griffin started at short, coming off the IL. I guess the Pirates did not want to have too much firepower in the lineup, at least until they fell behind. They finally put Gonzales in as a pinch hitter. Great thinking.

Key Moments Of The Game: Paul Skenes had one hell of an inning in the top of the 2nd. He threw 27 pitches before he recorded the first out. It took him 37 pitches to complete the inning. Two of the first 4 hits were under 80 MPH. The Pirates tied the game 4-4 on back-to-back home runs by Ozuna and Valdez. Ozuna went 2 for 3 with a walk. I think it is time to put him back in the lineup every day. Mason Montgomery gave up one single with one out in the top of the 8th. He then fell behind pinch hitter Noelvi Marte 3-1. He was able to get a swing and miss on a 98 MPH fastball. He tried to do it one more time and Marte hit it into the left field seats for a 2-run homer. The Pirates had minor threats in the 8th and 9th but could not score the necessary 2 runs to tie the game.

Next Game: Late afternoon, Reds in Pittsburgh. Jared Jones is going up against the Reds’ ace Chase Burns. When I saw how the series was going to play out, I thought this might be the game the Pirates could lose. Jones obviously is not going to miss a start after being hit on the elbow with a line drive in his last outing. Will the Pirates go with their most offensive team today or just put out another lineup? Will Ozuna get to DH two games in a row? He has only done that 4 times in the last 30 games. The Pirates just continue to muddle along.

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Pirates Morning Report: Taking The Series

Final Score: Pirates 5 Mariners 1

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate pitching staff ran through the raindrops holding the Mariners to 1 run despite loading the bases 3 times during the game. The Mariners had 6 hits, 6 walks, and 1 hit batter. They were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base. Bubba Chandler went 5 and 1/3 innings giving up the only run of the game on 5 hits and 3 walks. The bullpen finished the game by only giving up 1 hit but walked 3, and hit a batter, getting out of 2 bases loaded situations. The offense was sparked by the dynamic duo of Henry Davis and Jared Triolo. Brandon Lowe hit a home run in the 1st to make it 1-0. In the bottom of the 3rd, Triolo singled to right and Davis hit a blast to right center field to extend the lead to 3-0. Davis started off the bottom of the 8th with a line drive double that led to 2 more insurance runs. Just a side note, Jake Mangum finally led off the game. It was a one-game failure as he went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts. Maybe he was in a state of shock. With Horwitz on the IL, he may get to do this some more. Hopefully, he can handle it.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Mariners’ frustration started in the top of the 4th inning. They loaded the bases with 2 singles and a walk. There were 2 outs when Tuesday night’s hero, Cole Young, came to the plate. He hit a 98 MPH line drive to left-center field. Jake Mangum made a spectacular sliding catch to keep the Mariners from scoring. In the 5th inning, they scored their only run of the game with two walks and a single, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out. Chandler struck out Cal Raleigh, and then Julio Rodriguez hit a 103 MPH ground ball right at Nick Gonzales for an inning-ending double play. The Mariners loaded the bases in the 6th with 2 singles and a hit by pitch with 2 outs. Colt Emerson hit a 104 MPH ground ball this time right at the perfectly positioned Triolo, who stepped on 2nd to end the inning. In the top of the 7th, Evan Sisk and Yohan Ramirez walked the bases loaded. Fortunately, they each got one out. Mason Montgomery came in and got a lazy can of corn to left field to end that inning. Montgomery and Gregory Soto shut them down after that, 6 up and 6 down. I will give Don Kelly his just due in this one. He made the right moves in the critical 6th and 7th innings, forcing the Mariners’ hand a couple of times.

Next Game: Tonight, Reds in Pittsburgh. Paul Skenes takes the mound for the Pirates tonight. It is hard to believe that the Pirates have lost the last 7 games that Paul Skenes has started. Let’s hope that ends tonight. The Reds are hurting. They are 5 games under .500. Elly De La Cruz is on the IL. One of their main starters, T.J. Friedl, is putting up Henry Davis-like numbers. He has a lifetime slash line of .251/.336/.400. This year it is .179/.259/.256. This is the kind of drop-off I thought only Pirates had. There is no better time for the Pirates to keep the Reds down and get a 5-game winning streak. We will see if they can do it.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Tale Of Two Flyballs

Final Score: Pirates 11 Mariners 1

Why the Pirates Won: The Pirates were held hitless for the first 3 innings and trailed 1-0. Bryan Reynolds opened the 4th with a single. One out later, Ryan O’Hearn got a lucky double that seemed to open the floodgates. The Pirates got 4 hits over the next 5 batters, including a double and a triple putting a big 5 spot on the board. They added 4 in the 7th and 2 in the 8th to break open the game and win going away. All told, they scored 11 runs on 15 hits, 3 walks, and one Mariner error. They were an incredible 9 for 14 with runners in scoring position. After a shaky start, Braxton Ashcraft pitched a very good 6 innings. In his last 5 innings, he gave up 2 hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out 10. Carmen Mlodzinski pitched the last 3 innings, giving up no runs on 2 hits, striking out 3 and issuing no walks. After a slow start on both sides of the ball, the Pirates broke it open for an easy win to set up the rubber match today.

Key Moments of the Game: It is hard to say if these two plays would have changed the outcome of the game since it eventually became a blowout. Both plays involved Randy Arozarena. Ashcraft started the game by giving up three straight singles, and the Mariners quickly got out in front 1-0. Josh Naylor struck out. Arozarena lifted a high, deep fly ball down the right field line that went over the yellow line but was foul by about six inches. It was so close that they went to a video review, but it was a foul ball. If it had been fair, the score would have been 4-0 Mariners. Ashcraft went on to strike out Arozarena and eventually got out of the inning with no further damage. After that, he was pretty much invincible. In the bottom of the fourth, with one out and a runner on first, Ryan O’Hearn lifted a high, short 239-foot flyball down the left field line. Arozarena, who is coming off a hamstring injury, seemed to have some trouble getting over to the ball. It landed fair by about a foot and bounced high into the stands for a ground rule double. I think this game would have been much more interesting if those two fly balls had gone the other way—something we will never know.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Mariners in Pittsburgh. Bubba Chandler will go and try to win the series today, carrying with him the momentum built over his last three starts, where he has shown remarkable improvement. He has pitched 17 innings, giving up only six earned runs for a commendable 3.18 ERA. Each outing has showcased his growing confidence and ability to adapt on the mound, which is essential as he prepares for today’s game. He will need to have another good outing because I am sure the Pirates will follow their asinine policy of not letting a catcher start a day game after a night game. As a result, Henry (.136 batting average) Davis will probably start the game. I do not want to think about today’s starting lineup, especially given the unconventional decisions that have often left fans scratching their heads. However, perhaps against the odds and despite the lineup challenges, they will be able to win anyway.

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Pirates Morning Report: Tough Loss To Open Home Stand

Final Score: Pirates 2 Mariners 3

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates could only score 2 runs on 9 hits, 3 walks, and 3 Mariners errors. Most of this was condensed into the first 5 innings. In the last 4 innings, they could only get one hit, one walk and the Mariners committed their last error. The Pirates made a couple of outs on the base paths. They were 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position, which is not bad, but left 9 men on base. Mitch Keller pitched well for 6 innings. You could say he was the master of the deep fly ball. In the first 6 innings there 7 fly ball outs ranging from 334 to 377 feet. There were 3 other fly outs that were under 334 feet. Cal Raliegh’s home run went 393 feet. That was the only run Keller had given up in the first 6 innings. He had given up only 5 hits on 76 pitches walking no one. I was in complete agreement with him coming out for the 7th inning. In 8 pitches he gave up a double and a home run and the Mariners took the lead 3-2. He walked the next batter on 8 pitches and was gone. The bullpen even though shaky at time held the Mariners at bay for the rest of the game. The Pirates finally used Isaac Mattson as he pitched a clean 8th inning. The Pirates had a slight threat in the 8th inning but could not score. In the bottom of the ninth Andres Munoz struck out the side.

Key Moments Of The Game: In the bottom of the 3rd, with one out, the Pirates had 3 straight singles, and a Mariners throwing error making the score 2-0. This put runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Ryan O’Hearn popped out. Endy Rodriguez struck out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 5th, Brandon Lowe doubled, and Bryan Reynolds walked, putting runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Nick Gonzales hit into a 6-4-3 double play. He hit the ball hard but right at the shortstop. Ironically, he hit two weak ground balls for infield singles in his 2 previous at bats. Ryan O’Hearn hit a soft liner that first baseman Josh Naylor was able to leap up, deflect in the air, and make the catch with his back almost facing home plate. Right there, you figured it might not be the Pirates’ day. In the bottom of the 8th, the Pirates managed to get runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs but could not score.

Next Game: Tonight, Mariners in Pittsburgh. Braxton Ashcraft goes for the Pirates tonight. Last night it was damned if you do and damned if you don’t when Mitch Keller went out for the 7th inning. The Pirates did start Ozuna, and he drove in a run; finally, his average is over .200. The Pirates still refuse to allow Jake Mangum to lead off. I guess they don’t want Mangum mayhem to start the game. Horwitz hasn’t done a bad job leading off, but I still do not understand why you have a guy who is hitting close to .300 with an on-base percentage of .345 who can steal bases batting 8th in the lineup. Does that really make any sense? Do the Pirates even use analytics?

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Pirates Morning Report: Random Stats And Thoughts

The Pirates stand at 39 wins and 39 losses. We are three games short of the halfway point of the season. They are one of nine teams contending for the wild card. They are 1.5 games out of a spot. They are at a point in the season where any kind of a streak could determine the outcome of their season. Lose or win seven or eight in a row, they could be at the top of the wild card standings or fall completely out of contention. The Pirates have had a grinding season so far. The most they have been under .500 has been two, and that was on March 30th. The most that they have been above .500 is five on June 4th. I thought this would be a good point in the season to see who was doing the best for the Pirates and who was doing the worst. I am simply going to use the two comparison stats, OPS+ for hitters and ERA+ for pitchers, with the number 100 meaning you are league average. I was not going to use this stat, but for the purpose of this blog, it is an easy number to look at. I will do the normal team report at the All-Star break.

The best hitter on the team is Bryan Reynolds, with an OPS+ of 143. He is having his best offensive year since 2021. It will be interesting to see if he can continue this pace. The worst Pirate hitter is Henry Davis at 43; no surprise there. You have to wonder how long the Pirates can keep him on the team. Among players that have made at least 150 plate appearances, there are only two players in all of baseball that are worse than Davis. The best fielder on the team is Brandon Lowe, with +5 defensive runs saved. The worst fielder on the team is Oneil Cruz, with -9 defensive runs saved. Ryan O’Hearn is next, with -4. Most of the Pirates are average fielders, with 0 defensive runs saved. Interestingly, Jared Triolo grades out at 0 this year. By the way, he is the second-worst hitter on the Pirates, at 64 OPS+. So far this year, his glove has not been much of an asset. The best starting pitcher is Paul Skenes, with an ERA+ of 151. His ERA+ in his previous two years has been over 200. The worst starting pitcher is Mitch Keller, at 88, which is below league average. The best reliever is Evan Sisk, at 185, and the worst is Dennis Santana, at 83. It is time to put Sisk in more high-leverage situations and see how he does. Overall, the Pirate bullpen is ranked 27th in baseball. Their DH moved up one spot to 29th. Thanks to Endy Rodriguez, the catching position has moved up to 15th out of 30 teams.

Looking at the stats, it is obvious where the Pirates need help. I do not see the Pirates making any tough decisions—decisions like these: cut Henry Davis if he is out of options, bring up Rafael Flores even though he is not tearing it up in AAA; neither was Endy Rodriguez. No matter what, he has to hit better than Davis. Cut Billy Cook, bring up the Password, and keep him up here. When Konnor Griffin comes back, cut or trade Jared (No Hit Average Field) Triolo, bring up Hunter Stratton, and cut Dennis Santana. As far as the bullpen is concerned, do not look for any more help from AAA. The Indianapolis Indians are 31 and 44, and no one is really pitching or hitting very well. You notice you haven’t seen many down-on-the-farm reports on Pirate broadcasts; about the only exception is young pitcher Seth Hernandez. The Pirates are going to have to make a trade for bullpen help, and that is one scary proposition. The Pirates do not have a lot of prospects to shop, and it will not be that easy to get a top closer from another non-contending team. The lack of effort to obtain bullpen help during the off-season will most likely cost the Pirates a playoff spot.

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Pirates Morning Report: Avoiding Embarrassing Sweep

Final Score: Pirates 8 Rockies 6

Why The Pirates Won: After a slow start, the Pirates’ bats finally came alive in the thin Colorado air. From the 4th through the 7th inning, they scored 8 runs on 11 hits. They were led by Bryan Reynolds, who homered and drove in 3 runs, going 2 for 5, and Nick Gonzales, who homered and drove in 2 runs, going 2 for 4. Jake Mangum went 3 for 4. Jared Jones got hit with a line drive on the elbow and had to leave the game after 3 innings. X-rays seem to be negative, but I would be surprised if he does not miss a start. The bullpen almost blew the game, giving up 3 runs in the 8th and 2 in the bottom of the 9th. The Pirates were able to pull out the last game of the series and avoid the embarrassment of being swept by the Rockies, who have the worst record in baseball.

Key Moments Of The Game: Both Jared Jones and Yohan Ramirez were able to get out of jams of mostly their own making, with very little to no damage. In the bottom of the 2nd, the Rockies opened the inning with a slow roller single to 3rd base. Jones walked the next 2 batters; at one point he threw 7 out of 8 pitches out of the strike zone. The Pirates could only get a force out at 2nd base, and the Rockies scored the first run of the game, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. He struck out Kyle Karros, getting him to swing at a couple of borderline pitches. Brett Sullivan flew out to center field to end the inning. The Pirates led 2-1 going into the bottom of the 4th when Yohan Ramirez had to enter the game for the injured Jones. He started the inning by hitting a batter and walking a batter; only one of his first 7 pitches found the strike zone. The Rockies’ version of Jared Triolo, Edouard Julien, hit the first pitch, which was well inside, and grounded it right to Brandon Lowe to hit into a double play. Ramirez struck out the next batter, who swung at a pitch well high and outside for the 3rd strike. After all, it was the Rockies we were playing.

Next Game: Tomorrow night: Mariners in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are back to .500 as they head home. The Pirates continue to refuse to use Isaac Mattson, even though the bullpen continues to make every game interesting. Jake Magnum continues not to lead off. Marcell Ozuna was not in the lineup; it appears that he may only DH against left-handed pitching. The frugal Bob Nuthing seems to have the only $12 million DH who only hits against left-handed pitching. What an organization.

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Pirates Morning Report: A New Way To Lose

Final Score: Pirates 1 Rockies 2

Why the Pirates Lost: After Spencer Horwitz led off the game with a homer and Brandon Lowe followed up with a single, the Pirates’ bats went cold until the 9th inning for the second game in a row. For the next 8 innings, the Pirates got 2 hits. At one point, the Rockies’ great pitching staff faced the minimum number of batters over 6 innings, thanks to a double play ball after a walk. Paul Skenes pitched well, going 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, walking 2, and striking out 8. Carmen Mlodzinski pitched 2 scoreless innings, but it was not enough as the Pirates had another disastrous 9th inning.

Key Moments Of The Game: After the Pirates had taken the lead on Horwitz’s leadoff homer, Jake Magnum misplayed a ball that turned into an inside-the-park homer for Rockies leadoff hitter Jake McCarthy. Thank God it was not Oneil Cruz. The score was 2-1 going into the top of the 9th. Brandon Lowe doubled to lead off. Bryan Reynolds had an infield single up the middle, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out. Unfortunately, they brought in Billy Cook to run for him. For the second straight game, the Pirates had the tying run on 3rd base with nobody out. Ryan O’Hearn struck out swinging at a pitch that was at least 2 feet outside and in the dirt. Nick Gonzales got hit by a pitch to load the bases. For the 2nd straight time with the bases loaded, Tyler Callihan was overpowered by fastballs and struck out. That brought up Jake (Slap Happy) Mangum. After battling for 5 pitches, Mangum slapped a ball to the 3rd baseman. Billy Cook, having no idea what the rules are, clipped the glove with his spikes and was ruled out. Any player with a brain would have known to run behind the fielder. The Pirates always find a way, but it is a way to lose. Then one was really unique.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rockies in Colorado. Don’t look now but the Rockies are going for the sweep. The Pirates are 5-12 in their last 17 games. Twelve of those games have been against teams with records just around .500 or way below. You cannot use the schedule card for this one Pittsburgh media. Jared Jones is going for the Pirates today and his big weakness is giving up the gopher ball. After losing 2 close surprisingly low scoring games in Colorado, I see a 12-11 loss today. This team is just taking the pipe. It is hard playing meaningful games in June when you are not use to it. Maybe this will toughen up the players. Ozuna did not play yesterday. Mangum did not lead off. There is nothing that is going to change that. The Pirate management team has no idea what they are doing.

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Pirates Morning Report: Another Manager Loss

Final Score: Pirates 3 Rockies 4

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates made starter Kyle Freeland, who came into the game with an ERA close to 8, look like Lefty Grove. In 7 innings, he had given up just 2 hits and thrown only 75 pitches. The Pirates scored 3 runs in the top of the 8th to take the lead, 3-2. For the second consecutive time, Don Kelly sat on his hands and allowed Mason Montgomery to face 3 right-handed batters in a row, and it cost the Pirates again. After 2 outs, he gave up a single, single, double to allow the Rockies to storm back and take the lead in the game, 4-3. Despite what Greg Brown inferred, none of the hits were cheap. Both ground ball singles were 90+ MPH, and the double was ripped at 110 MPH. Left-handed batters only hit .156 against Montgomery, but righties hit .278. I guess the Pirates are not aware of this. I am not sure the Pirates had anybody warming up in the 8th inning. At least the Pirate broadcast did not show anybody. All of this wasted a good performance by Bubba Chandler. He went 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits. He walked 2 and struck out just 1, throwing 74 pitches. With this bullpen, you have to wonder why he was taken out. He was allowed to throw 90+ pitches to get through 5 innings three games in a row. You make sense of it. The Pirates gave another game away and fell to .500. These losses mostly fall on the shoulders of Don Kelly. It will be the main reason, if this team does not make the playoffs.

Key Moments Of The Game: Despite all the bullpen blunders and not being able to figure out Freeland for 7 innings, the Rockies showed how bad of a team they are in the top of the 9th. The Pirates still could not take advantage. The Pirates loaded the bases thanks to a hit, literally a booted ground ball, and a walk. Then Kelly decided to pinch-hit for Esmerlyn Valdez. Valdez started the 8th-inning rally with a one-out double. He had also hit a 400-foot fly out. Granted, it was against the lefty Freeland, but maybe Valdez deserved a chance. Tyler Callihan was the pinch hitter. Maybe the high altitude got to him. He struck out on 4 straight fastballs. Unfortunately, there was no one left to bat for the worst run producer the Pirates have in Jared Triolo. Triolo had driven in the first run of the game and had gotten 2 hits. But he proved that they were just flukes as he grounded into a double play to end the game. One thing you can say about the Pirates is they know how to lose.

Next Game: Tonight, Rockies in Colorado. Even with Paul Skenes pitching tonight, you do not feel good about this game. The Rockies are starting right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano. It will be interesting to see if Marcell Ozuna is in the lineup. He got another hit last night, and it was against a right-hander. I am betting no, although the Reynolds injury may get him in the lineup. Will the Pirates be able to take the series against the lowly Rockies? After last night, it is certainly just a toss-up.