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Pirates Morning Report: The Mysterious Ways Of The Pirates

The Pirates stand at 38-37. They are one game out of a wild card spot. Most of the season, they have been hovering around 2 to 4 games above .500. There are lots of good things to say about the Pirates; they are one of the better scoring clubs. They have had bullpen issues, and even their starting pitching has had some problems. We are just 6 games short of reaching the halfway point of the season. You would think the Pirates would have a handle on which players are performing well and which players are not. You would think that they would know by now the best way for certain players to help the team. They should know who the best performers on the team are. They must not be watching the same performances that I am. Let’s look at 3 players who are not being given a chance to perform or are not being used in the best way.

Jake Mangum seems to be a fan favorite. He just has that fan appeal. He hustles, he looks good in the field, and he seems to be a good hitter. When you look at the stats, he is not as good as it would seem, at least the way the Pirates use him. He should be leading off every time he is in the starting lineup. The Pirates usually bat him 7th or 8th. His slash line is .296/.330/.368. With that horrendous slugging percentage, his OPS is .694, which is below league average. He is just an average fielding outfielder. There is a statistic called total runners scored by a batter. In other words, when you come up with men on base, what percentage of those runners are you responsible for scoring? Mangum is one of the worst performers on the team. He is responsible for 10.2% of runners scoring. The only one worse on the team is Jared Triolo at 8.8%. Even Henry Davis, with his pathetic .138 batting average, is better at 11.6%. The middle of the Pirate order averages somewhere between 17% and 20%, with Bryan Reynolds being the leader at 20%. That statistic alone should make Mangum a lead-off hitter because you are going to guarantee that, at least once a game, he is going to come up with the bases empty. Leading off, he would have more opportunities to bat and steal bases, which he is quite good at, stealing 13 bases on 15 attempts for an 87% success rate. Leading off minimizes his lack of slugging. Besides Konnor Griffin, who has only led off once; Jake Mangum is the obvious choice to lead off the game. Obvious to everyone but the Pirates.

Next, we have Marcell Ozuna. I was not pleased when they signed him to do nothing but DH for 12 million bucks. He got off to a horrible start. Everyone was saying he is too old. He cannot catch up with the fastball anymore. You know the Pirates are not going to dump him with that salary. But hey, wait a minute. In the last 11 games that he has DH’d, he has not done too bad. He is hitting .268 with 1 home run and 8 RBIs. There is just one problem: it has taken 26 games for him to play in those 11 games. In that same stretch, Jared Triolo has played 22 games. Henry Davis has played in 12 games. In those games Triolo is batting .208 with 0 home runs and 4 RBIs, and Henry Davis is hitting .142 but has managed 3 home runs and 9 RBIs. The only criticism you could say about Ozuna is he has only walked once, which puts his OBP at .285. You’re paying this guy 12 million to DH. He needs to have his final run. He should DH the next 10 to 14 games, batting 6th or 7th in the lineup. If he cannot sustain what he has done the last 11 games, then he should be cut. This guy has hit his entire career and hit for power. This offense is good, but it would be better if Ozuna can find his stroke. I am not too sure the Pirates understand this. Again, are they paying attention to what really is going on during these games?

The most mysterious case of all is that of Isaac Matson. With the Pirate bullpen ranked 24th in all of baseball, the Pirates have lost faith in Matson for no apparent reason. He had a horrible opening day, much like Paul Skenes. Not quite as bad, but he walked off the mound that day with an ERA over 10. In the next 32 games, he made 16 appearances. In the first 15, he pitched 15 and 1/3 innings, giving up no runs on 9 hits. On his 17th appearance, he gave up 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning. In the next 15 games, he only appeared 4 times. Three were good outings, and one was not. The Pirates sent him down, and even when brought back up, he has not been used that much. Even with those bad outings, here is how he compares to current bullpen members and one former bullpen member when he was sent down. We are going to use ERA+ the comparison stat where league average is 100, and FIP, which is the things that pitchers can control: home runs, walks, and strikeouts. Matson, at the moment, has an ERA+ of 106 and a FIP of 3.82. Dennis Santana has an ERA+ of 96 and a FIP of 4.46. Yohan Ramirez has an ERA+ of 102 and a FIP of 4.32. Mason Montgomery has an ERA+ of104 and FIP of 3.52. Brandan Bidois has an ERA+ of 85 and a FIP of 6.95. When Matson was sent down, Justin Lawrence was still on the team with an ERA+ of 82 and a FIP of 5.37. Matson’s ERA+ is better than any of those players who are continuing to be used often. Only Mason Montgomery has a better FIP by 0.30. When Matson was sent down, the robotic Pirate broadcast booth said he was sent down to get right. If that is true, the Pirates need to send down 4 others to get right by my calculations. Instead, they continue to put those players in key situations to lose games. If I were Matson, I would ask to be traded. I’m not too sure that the Pirates are going to wake up and start to use Matson like they did in the early part of the season.

The other mysteries of the Pirates are that, for the most part, they continue to ignore reverse splits. Billy Cook has been on the Pirates for 55 games. In those 55 games, he has made 22 plate appearances. In this day and age, where teams carry only 13 position players, why is he on the team? It is like the Pirates are carrying just 12. You have heard of the designated hitter. The Pirates have the designated cheerleader. They do not have pitchers warming up in the bullpen at the start of an inning in a tight ballgame late in the game. The Pirates have one of the best percentages of successful stolen bases, but yet remain fairly conservative when attempting to steal. When you look at how the Pirates front office has performed from a strategic standpoint, you have to wonder how in the hell this team is one game over .500. This morning, I wake up to find that the Pirates traded Joey Bart to the Atlanta Braves for Hunter Stratton, who they DFA’d. He is going to AAA. If I were Isaac Matson, I would be packing my bags. Don’t worry, Brandon Bidois, with your 6.95 FIP, you are safe.

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Pirates Morning Report: Top Of The Order Coming Back Strong

Final Score: Pirates 12 A’s 4

Why The Pirates Won: About 3 games ago, the 1, 2, and 4 hitters went 0 for 14 with 9 strikeouts. Last night, those same hitters went 6 for 11 with 1 home run, 2 doubles, 9 RBIs, and zero strikeouts. Ryan O’Hearn led the way, going 3 for 5 with a home run and 6 runs batted in. The Pirates returned the favor to the A’s, blowing them out and taking the series. Braxton Ashcraft pitched a good 6 innings, giving up 2 runs, only 1 earned, on 3 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 7 while throwing 93 pitches. The bullpen gave up a couple of solo home runs but never really let the A’s back in the game. It was a nice, easy win for the Pirates.

Key Moments In The Game: The Pirates set the tone early on both sides of the ball, something they have not done in a long time. They opened the game with three doubles and a walk to take a 3-0 lead. In the second inning, they put together a single, a double, and two more singles to extend the lead to 5-0. Ashcraft started out just as hot, not allowing a hit through the first 13 batters he faced. The Pirates added two runs in the fourth to make it 7-0. The A’s cut the lead to five in the sixth inning. The Pirates exploded for five runs in the top of the seventh, all started by a leadoff homer by Marcell Ozuna. More on him tomorrow. The Pirates head to Colorado with their first series win in the last four.

Next game: Tomorrow night, Rockies in Colorado. The Rockies are 19 games under .500. You have to feel the Pirates must take at least 2 out of 3. It is always a little scary when you play a team that is doing poorly. This is also the site of one of the worst losses in Pirate history when they lost to the Rockies 17 to 16 after they had a 9 or 10 run lead. I admit I did not look it up; it is just too painful. Tomorrow, I will have some random thoughts on these Pittsburgh Pirates as they continue to fight for a playoff spot.

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Pirates Morning Report: Reynolds On Fire

Final Score: Pirates 6 A’s 5

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates survived a horrible 1st inning, giving up 4 runs on just 2 hits. Bryan Reynolds hit 2 home runs, driving in 3 runs to top off a 4 for 5 night. His second home run came with 2 outs in the top of the 7th to tie the game at 5-5. In the top of the 9th, the slumping Brandon Lowe, with a .224 on-base percentage over the last 15 games, lined a home run way over the right field fence to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead. After the shaky first inning, where he walked the bases loaded, Mitch Keller pitched a decent 5 and 1/3 innings. He gave up one more run on a home run. After the 1st, he gave up 3 hits, striking out 7 and just walking one. The bullpen, shaky as ever, somehow, someway did not give up any runs, enabling the Pirates to eke out an unexpected 6-5 win.

Key Moments Of The Game: Bryan Reynolds and Brandon Lowe hit the big home runs accounting for 4 of the Pirates’ 6 runs. Needless to say, it was the Pirates’ bullpen that had the key moments. In the top of the 7th, the A’s opened the inning with a double. Evan Sisk struck out Nick Kurtz. The Pirates decided to bring in Yohan (How Many Outs Are There) Ramirez. He promptly wild-pitched the runner to third. Alika Williams did not go on contact with one out and did not score on a ground out to the shortstop. One intentional walk later, Jacob Wilson grounded into a force out to end the inning. Mason Williams came in to pitch the 8th and went strikeout, walk, strikeout, and strikeout. The bottom of the 9th got really scary. Gregory Soto got the first out with a strikeout. The A’s got two singles in a row to put runners on 1st and 2nd. This brought up Tyler Soderstrom. He almost got hit by the first two pitches. The third pitch was even inside to make the count 3-0. He took the next 3 pitches for strikes. He challenged one, but they were all strikes. First and second with one out in the bottom of the 9th and he does not swing at 3 straight pitches in the strike zone. Right away, Ben Cherington thought he might be a good acquisition for the Pirates. Jacob Wilson swung at a pitch way high and outside on an 0-2 count and lined it right to Jake Mangum to end the game. The Pirates are back to .500.

Next Game: Tonight, A’s in Sacramento. This will be the rubber match of the series. After five innings last night that looked like it would be impossible. Braxton Ashcraft will go for the Pirates. He has had two shaky starts in a row. Keller, after that bad first inning, kept the A’s basically in check. Ashcraft needs to do the same thing, which is no small task. The Pirates have won only three of their last eleven games. All three wins were by one run, and two were big comeback wins, coming back from five and four run deficits. The Pirates could have easily lost eleven in a row. If this team ever starts pitching again and somehow makes the playoffs, this stretch of games will be the ones to remember.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bludgeoned In Sacramento

Final Score: Pirates 2 Athletics 11

Why the Pirates Lost: The dynamic duo of Jared Jones and Camen Mlodzinski gave up 11 runs on a whopping 15 hits, walking 2 and striking out 6. Only 1 of Mlodzinski’s 6 runs were earned, but that was because all 5 runs in the 7th scored after 2 were out. It took Jones and Mlodzinski 75 pitches each to get through 7 innings. Looks like the Pirates have a 6-man rotation whether they want it or not. We won’t be seeing either pitcher for the next 4 games. We will see how the Pirates get along with an 11 man pitching staff the next 4 games. Great system, Pirates. The A’s were 7 for 13 with runners in scoring position. They hit 3 home runs and 3 doubles in their collection of 15 hits. The Pirates could only manage 2 runs despite getting 8 hits and walking 3 times. They were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, leaving 9 men on base. The Pirates finally fell below .500 for the first time since the 5th game of the season. They did it in a big way. Maybe we can blame it on jet lag.

Key Moments Of The Game: Jeff McNeil, who started the game on a 0 for 20 streak, got the big hits early in the game. In the bottom of the 2nd, with a runner on 2nd and one out, he singled in the first run of the game. In the bottom of the 1st, the A’s had loaded the bases on 3 singles when Jones struck out the side. This got the A’s quickly off the schneid. After the McNeil single, Nick Kurtz hit an opposite-field home run to make it 3-0 A’s. In the top of the 4th, it looked like the Pirates might climb back into this one. Nick Gonzales started the inning by reaching base on an error. Endy Rodriguez followed with a single. Tyler Callihan hit a weak ground ball to first, moving the runners up. Jake Mangum hit a little 68 MPH blooper that scored a run. The Pirates had runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Esmerlyn Valdez then hit into a 1-4-3 double play, with McNeil making a great throw to second, just getting Valdez in time. In the bottom of the inning, McNeil broke open the game, hitting a 2-run homer. It was only his 3rd home run of the season.

Next Game: Tonight, the A’s in Sacramento. Mitch Keller goes for the Pirates. In his last 3 games he has gone 12 and 2/3 innings giving up 18 earned runs on 24 hits. He did this throwing 274 pitches. The fact that he was allowed to throw this many pitches is mind boggling. He is giving up almost 1.5 runs per inning pitched. There is not any word that he has any physical ailment. He is going up against one of the best hitting teams in baseball. They have the 3rd highest OPS in baseball. Maybe Keller will have a Jeff McNeil night. We can only hope.

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Pirates Morning Report: Batting And Bullpen Failures

Final Score: Pirates 2 Marlins 4

Why The Pirates Lost: The bullpen could not keep the game close and the offense failed to hit in the clutch going 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and leaving 11 men on base. The top 2 and bottom 2 batters in the order went 1 for 17 with 9 strike outs. Paul Skenes had one bad inning where he gave up 2 solo home runs. He went 6 innings giving up the two runs on 4 hits walking one and striking out 10 over 6 innings. The bullpen gave up 2 in the 8th which proved to be the margin of difference. The Pirates are back to .500.

Key Moments Of The Game: The score was 2-1 Marlins going into the bottom of the 5th. The Pirates had scored 1 run in the bottom of the 4th but could have scored more. With one out in the 5th Bryan Reynolds walked. Ryan O’ Hearn struck out. Nick Gonzales singled and Tyler Callihan was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jake Mangum took the first pitch and lined it into right center field. Jakob Marsee made a spectacular diving back hand catch. If the ball is just another yard or two toward right field it would have cleared the bases. The score was still 2-1 going into the top of the 8th. The Pirates brought in Brandon Bidois to pitch. He struck out the first batter. On the next 3 pitches the Marlins got 2 singles to put runners on 1st and 2nd. This should have been the time the Pirates got the bullpen up and started stalling for time. The Pirates should have had someone throwing when the inning started. As we all know this is not the Pirates way to be prepared for a pitcher failing. On the very next pitch was another single scoring the 3rd run of the game. Even the 4th straight single did not move the Pirate bench. It was too late by then anyway. Bidois got a fly ball out. Then he hit a batter and was finally taken out of the game. Bryan Reynolds who had a good day at the plate hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th to make the final 4-2

Next Game: Tonight, the A’s, wherever they play. The Pirates will have to win tonight to keep from dropping below .500. The A’s record is 35-36. Another team in the Pirate weight class that has been playing better lately, even though they lost yesterday 23-9 to the Rockies who the Pirates will be playing next. Can the Pirates do it one more time and not fall below .500?

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Do It Again Despite Themselves

Final Score: Pirates 3 Marlins 2

Why The Pirates Won: For about the 6th time this year the Pirates won a game to keep from going below .500. The pitching staff gave up under 3 runs for the first time in 8 games. The Pirates were able to overcome many bad decisions by the manager and the players to pull out a hard fought 3-2 win. They snapped the 6 game Marlins winning streak. You could say the Marlins snapped it themselves. Bubba Chandler pitched one of his better games of the year giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and walking just one batter. The only criticism is that he gave up hits on 3 pitchers counts. There were two 0-2 and one 1-2 counts that ended up being hits. He should have been allowed to finish the 6th inning but Don Kelly thought it would be a good idea to bring in a left hander to face right handed batters. It was not and the Marlins tied the game. This game boiled down to a very strange 8th inning.

Key Moments Of The Game: The score was tied 2-2 going into the fateful 8th inning. Yohan (How Many Outs Are There) Ramirez started the inning for the Pirates. He gave up a single and then walked the next batter on 5 pitches with none of the 4 balls anywhere near the plate. He came back and struck out the next batter on 3 pitches. He fell behind Heriberto Hernandez 3-0. The 4th pitch was just barely below the strike zone but was called a strike. No challenge or the bases would have been loaded. Ramirez came back with 2 good pitches to strike him out. Ramirez was headed for the dugout. One problem, there were just 2 outs. Leo Jimenez helped Ramirez out by swinging at two balls way low and outside. Pitch 3 was low but called a strike and Ramirez was headed off the field again. This time it was challenged and overturned. Back out he came to throw two more pitches outside the strike zone, but Jimenez swung at the last one to strike out. Ramirez struck out a batter without throwing a pitch in the zone. More importantly he headed for the dugout for third time and finally was right. The bottom of the 8th was a complete opposite. The first two Pirate batters struck out. Tyler Callihan and Jake Mangum singled putting runners on 1st and 3rd. Mangum stole 2nd with no play. This is where the Marlins handed the game to the Pirates on a silver platter. First they walked one of the worst hitters in baseball Jared Triolo on 5 pitches. Wasting no time they hit Spencer Horwitz on the first pitch of the at bat and the Pirates led 3-2. Brandon Lowe made the last out after failing to challenge a pitch that would have forced in another run. The 9th was shaky for Gregory Soto but after that 8th inning you just knew the Pirates were going to pull out the game.

Next Game: Noon, Marlins in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are on Peacock today on what’s called the opener or something like that. Paul Skenes starts today and hopefully the Pirates will get back into some run prevention again. The Pirates need this series win to get some momentum heading on the road. I wonder if the Pirates realize that.

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Pirates Morning Report: Not Making Moves

Final Score: Pirates 3. Marlins 8.

Why The Pirates Lost: Braxton Ashcraft could only go 5 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 5 hits walking 2 and striking out 4. He threw 90 pitches. Wilber Dotel age 23 went 1 and 2/3 innings giving up 4 runs on 4 hits walking 3 and striking out 2. He was followed up by recent call up Antwone Kelly, age 22, who went 2 and 1/3 innings giving up 2 runs on 2 hits walking 1 and striking out 1. The question is why were they allowed to do this, especially Dotel. He opened the 7th by walking a batter on 6 pitches. No action in bullpen. Remember, the score is 2-2. First pitch bunt single. No action in the bullpen. Next we have A SEVEN PITCH WALK TO LOAD THE BASES. IT WAS ONLY AFTER THE WALK THAT THE BULLPEN GOT UP. It was Mason Montgomery. Kelly got up later. 4 runs and 2 outs later Dotel was taken out of the game. By then it was way too late. The Pirates’ bats did not do much against Sandy Alcantara. In 8 innings he gave up 3 runs on 5 hits. At the end of the game Greg Brown said that Ashcraft had taken the loss when of course Dotel took the loss. Does anybody know what’s going on. I think this is a fair question.

Key Moments Of The Game: Don Kelly being asleep at the wheel in the pivotal 7th inning. The Marlins got the big hits in the top of the 7th. After Dotel had loaded the bases, the Marlins scored their 3rd run on a sacrifice fly leaving runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. It was possible that the Marlins could be held to just the one run. Maybe now would be a good time for a pitching change. Don are you there? Wake up. No? Let’s stick with Dotel. Rocket no. 1. 103 MPH single making it 4-2. Now? No? Rocket No. 2 107 MPH double to make it 6-2 Marlins. Not even now? He strikes out the next batter. He takes him out now. What a manager.

Next Game: This afternoon, Marlins in Pittsburgh. For about the 6th time this year the Pirates are going into a game at the .500 mark. They have always been able to win the game to keep from falling below .500. They have not been below .500 since game 5 of the season. I hate to say it but this team seems to be folding up like an accordion. The pressure seems to be getting to them at every level. They have lost 6 out of 7 games. With the exception of the game they won they have only been close in one other game. In other words they are getting slaughtered. If this team is to turn it around the pitching is somehow going to have to get back to last year’s performance. It needs to start today.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pitching Problems Continue

Final Score: Pirates 6 Dodgers 8

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirate pitchers “led” by Mitch Keller gave up 8 runs on 10 hits walking 8, and hitting 3 batters. I guess you could say they made them pay for their thrills. In the 6 games that the Pirates faced the Braves and the Dodgers the pitchers gave up 43 runs for an average of 7.16 runs per game. The Pirates were fortunate to win one game. The Pirates tried to come back from a 5 run deficit two games in a row but fell just a little bit short.

Key Moments Of The Game: Shohei Ohtani hit a solo home run with one out in the top of the third. Andy Pages singled. Keller hit a batter, almost gave up a home run to Mookie Betts for an out and hit another batter to load the bases. Overpaid Kyle Tucker hit a little pop up blooper just over the outstretched glove of Nick Gonzales to make the score 3-0. The last thing the Pirates need right now is bad luck. In the top of the 4th Keller got 2 outs on 4 pitches. After that he completely collapsed. He gave up 3 singles in a row to make the score 4-0. He walked Mookie Betts to load the bases. He wild pitched in the 5th run of the game. In the bottom of the 5th the Pirates scored 4 runs on home runs by Rafael Flores and Brandon Lowe and a single by Spencer Horwitz. They had the bases loaded with two outs. Jake(Please Pinch Hit For Me When The Bases Are Loaded) Mangum was called out on strikes. To make matters worse he lost the Pirates last challenge plus he swung at a ball lower than that earlier. The bullpen could not keep the game close giving up 3 runs over the last 4 innings.

Next game: Tonight, the Marlins in Pittsburgh. Even though the Pirates get back into their weight class tonight when the Miami Marlins come to town, they are riding a 5 game win streak. They have climbed within one game of .500. You could call this an early season showdown between two teams fighting for a playoff spot. Will the Pirates finally respond when the pressure is amped up a bit? It should be an interesting weekend.

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Pirates Morning Report: Unlikely Hero For An Even More Unlikely Comeback

Final Score: Pirates 9 Dodgers 8

Why The Pirates Won: Tyler Callihan hit the first two home runs of his major league career, including a big 3 run homer in the bottom of the 8th to put the Pirates up 7-6. Three batters later Spencer Horwitz hit a 2 run homer that proved to be the margin of difference. The Pirates trailed 6-1 going into the bottom of the 7th inning. They scored 3 in the 7th and 5 in the 8th to take a 9-6 lead. Shohei Ohtani hit a 2 run homer in the 9th to make it very interesting. Jared Jones went 4 innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits throwing 75 pitches. The Pirates snapped their 4 game losing streak and were finally able to beat one of the elite teams in the National League. If they can somehow pull out a win tonight they will go 2-4 against the Braves and the Dodgers, not the disaster it was shaping up to be.

Key Moments Of The Game: Walks turned out to be the key to this game, along with Bryan Reynolds making the best catch of his career. In the top of the 3rd with 2 out Jared Jones issued his only walk. Shohei Ohtani lifted a deep fly ball to left field. Bryan Reynolds went back to the wall and leaped up to rob Ohtani of a home run. In the top of the 6th Carmen Mlodzinski loaded the bases on a single and two walks. Ryan Ward took a first pitch sweeper right down the middle and drilled it into the right field seats for a grand slam home run. In the bottom of the 7th inning the Pirates put the first two men on base via the walk and a single. Jared Triolo and Horwitz were both called out on strikes. They would redeem themselves the very next inning. Ohtani fell behind Brandon Lowe 3 and 0. On one of the guttiest swings of the year, Lowe lined the next pitch down the right field line for a double to score 2 runs. When Max Muncy whiffed on a ground ball by Brian Reynolds, Lowe scored. The Pirates had cut the lead to 6-4. The Dodgers walked the first two batters to start the bottom of the 8th. Callihan made them pay by taking a first pitch change up into the seats. Triolo doubled and Horwitz homered. The Pirates walked away with their most improbable win of the season.

Next Game: Tonight, Dodgers, in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have a chance to take the series tonight. Mitch Keller will go for the Pirates. He is due for a good start and the Pirates desperately need one. They have given up 20 runs in the first two games. Amazingly they won one of those games. It would be so wonderful if 4 or 5 runs would be enough to win tonight’s game. Do you believe in miracles?

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Pirates Morning Report: Not Ready For The Big Boys

Final Score: Pirates 3 Dodgers 12

Why The Pirates Lost: A disastrous 7th inning saw the Dodgers score 10 runs on 7 hits, 4 walks, with the Pirates making two throwing errors. It took the Pirates 51 pitches and 10 batters to record the 1st out of the inning. The pitchers threw 68 pitches for the inning. The Pirate pitchers walked 9 batters for the game. They gave up 15 hits. Even though it did not make much difference, for the 4th straight game the Pirate offense scored 3 runs. During this 4 game losing streak against the best in the National League, the Pirates have been out scored 27 to 12. They have been dominated in every phase of the game. In this game the Pirates hit 2 solo home runs and had 3 runners on base through the first 8 innings. Two walks and a fly ball lost in the sun. They struck out 12 times.

Key Moment Of The Game: This was a good game for six innings until the horrible 7th inning. There really isn’t a lot to say here. Maybe something like this will wake this team up. We will see what happens.

Next Game: Tonight, Dodgers, in Pittsburgh. Shohei Ohtani will make his pitching debut in Pittsburgh tonight. He will bring his 0.74 ERA to the mound. Jared Jones will be going for the Pirates. A game that looks like the Pirates have zero chance of winning. On the other hand if they would somehow win this game it could be a season changing event. Wishful thinking but you never know. That’s the reason they play the games.