Pirates Morning Report

Final Score: Pirates 0 Brewers 2

Why The Pirates Lost: After having a very good day hitting in the clutch, the Pirates failed miserably with runners in scoring position, by going 0 for 11. They had 9 hits and 2 walks, but could not push a run across. They also had a big strikeout day again, by whiffing 14 times. In my view, the Pirates are just not aggressive enough in the early part of the at bat. Even though the Turtle got 3 hits yesterday, this was the 2nd game in a row, where he had an at bat and did not swing at a pitch. He struck out both times. DID NOT SWING AT A PITCH. On Saturday it was a 6 pitch at bat and yesterday a 5 pitch at bat. It’s like he is trying to prove that you could still get a hit without swinging at the ball. Zach Thompson pitched a nice 4.2 innings coming off the IL. You have to be philosophical about this loss, because the Brewers pitching staff is going to do this to a lot of teams.

Key Moment of The Game: The Pirates had 1st and 3rd with 2 out and Ke’Bryan Hayes at the plate. The first pitch by Josh Hader was a 97-mph fast ball almost down the middle of the plate, just on the inner half, and Hayes stood there with his bat on his shoulder. Even though he drew a walk to load the bases, the Pirates never saw a better pitch to hit from Hader again. Bryan Reynolds hit a lazy fly ball to left to end the game. Fast ball almost down the middle of the plate and Hayes stood there. He must be getting advice from the Turtle.

Next Game: Tuesday, Yankees in Pittsburgh. If some way somehow the Pirates could get a split, they would be 6-2 against the Dodgers and the Yankees, the most likely teams to play in the World Series. After the Yankee series the Pirates will be exactly at the halfway point of the season. Even if the Pirates lose both games to the Yankees and then play exactly the same way in the second half, they will lose 98 games. I am sure this is very upsetting to management who was hoping they would lose 110.