The Record: 4 Wins Losses 5
Why They Won 4 Games: After getting off to a miserable start, losing to the Detroit Tigers and getting blown out by the Brewers 14-1, the Pirates went on to win the next 4 out of 7 games against some pretty stiff competition. They took the next 2 out of 3 from the division leading Brewers, before returning home, to split a four game series with the Atlanta Braves. It was surprisingly, the offense that carried the team to victory. During the last 7 games they averaged 5.5 runs per game. Many players got some hot bats. Bryan Reynolds slugged .731 with 3 home runs and 5 RBI’s. Ke’Bryan Hayes slugged .607 with 2 home runs and a whopping 10 RBI’s. Despite the hot streak Hayes is still a bit of an enigma. For a guy that takes as many strikes as he does, he does not walk much and his on base percentage is way less than league average, which leads to an OPS+ of 88, 12% worse than a league average hitter. Most of that is due to the fact for the entire season he has walked only 17 times. With 37 to 55 more plate appearances Jack Suwinski, Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Santana, each walked 53, 63 and 45 times respectively. Despite these numbers the Pirates continue to try a get him to lead off. His current OBP of .291 stinks. Alfonso Rivas has had a nice start for the Pirates slugging .762 and hitting 2 home runs with 5 RBI’s. Overall, the offense has been looking up.
Why They Lost 5 Games: The pitching staff has had its issues. Oviedo pitched an excellent game, and the staff pitched another good game giving up only 2 runs in 9 innings but the Pirates could only produce 2 runs, losing in 10 inning 3-2. They had the blowout loss 14-1 that was a pitching disaster. In the other 6 games they gave up at least 4 to 8 runs per game and were able to win a game where they gave up 6 runs. Almost every pitcher seemed to get touched up. The only exception was new acquisition Andre Jackson. It seems like he is one of those guys making the transition from starter to reliever, with improved results. Mitch (Who Is Jeff Locke?) Keller continues to struggle post All Star game. He pitches this Sunday against the Reds. Wouldn’t It Be Nice to see him turn it around.
Next Game: Tonight, Reds in Pittsburgh. The blog is back from a trip to London and Paris. Had a great time but it is good to be back and watching the Buccos. They did better than I expected them to do, while I was away, even before the first two bad games. I thought they would be about 2-7 or 3-6 at the best, especially with all the troubles they usually have in Milwaukee. A sweep of the Reds would go a long way to perking up this team and making this a .500 season.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 