Final Score: Pirates 2 Reds 4
Why The Pirates Lost: The bats finally had a bad day and the Pirates refused to pitch around the red-hot TJ Friedl. The Pirate first four batters went 0 for 16 with 2 walks. The rest of the team scored 2 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. Jack Suwinski hit his 26th homer of the year to account for one of the runs. The most encouraging part of the day was the pitching performance of Quinn Priester. He had his first Major League quality start going 6 innings giving up 2 runs on 2 hits but walked 5. The bottom of the 6th he gave up a 2 run homer to TJ Friedl with nobody out. Each time through the order he had walked the first two batters in the Reds lineup and came out unscathed. This time Jonathan India led off the inning with a single and Priester failed to pitch Friedl careful enough. With no one out and leading 2-0 you could excuse this somewhat. However, in the bottom of the 7th with a runner on 2nd and 2 out Jose Hernandez served up 2 pitches in a row right over the plate slightly above the belt, and Friedl did not miss the 2nd one, and singling into left to give the Reds a 3-2 lead. Why the Pirates gave him anything to hit in that situation who knows? Only The Shadow knows for sure. The Reds added a run in the 8th on a home run and the 4 game win streak was over.
Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the 7th the Pirates had 1st and 2nd, nobody out with the top of the order coming to bat. In 7 pitches the inning was over. Joe flew out, Reynolds popped out, and Hayes lined out to centerfield. The Pirates had a slight threat in the top of the 8th, thanks to two walks, but failed to score. They went down quietly and quickly, 10 pitches, in the top of the 9th. It has been a good road trip so far with the Pirates going 4-2, as they head for Philadelphia.
Next Game: Tomorrow night, Phillies in Philadelphia. The Pirates have a shot at 77 wins if they can split their next 6 games. If they do, that will be a 15 game improvement from last year. The Phillies have not quite cinched the top Wild Card spot so they will be serious at least for those first 2 games. The Pirates took 2 out of 3 from the Phillies in Pittsburgh. Let’s hope that the Phillies do no more than return the favor.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 