Pirates Morning Report: From One Extreme To The Other, But Hey It’s A Win

Final Score: Pirates 3 Guardians 0

Why The Pirates Won: Luis Ortiz pitched a solid 6 innings only giving up 1 hit. He did walk 3 to make it interesting and there were some nice defensive plays behind him, but it was the best pitching performance by a Pirate in the last few games. The bullpen, not a misprint, shut out the Guardians the rest of way, despite Shelton trying to give the game away again. After scoring so many runs in the previous 4 losses the Pirate offense got back to normal. They scored 3 runs on 9 hits and 4 walks, leaving 9 men on base. Nick Gonzales had 3 hits and Oneil Cruz had 2. Aroldis Chapman pitched a clean ninth to pick up the save and the 4 game losing streak was broken.

Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates had a particularly frustrating top of the 7th where they loaded the bases but failed to score. The score was 1-0 going into the bottom of the seventh. With many options available Derek (How Can I Help Lose This Game) Shelton brought in Jalen (I Can’t Remember The Last Time I Retired Three Batters In A Row) Beeks. He did not disappoint. Josh Naylor immediately opened the inning with a double to left field. On the next pitch Jhonkensy Noel hit a line drive but right at Bryan De La Cruz for the first out. Beeks then walks the next batter on 6 pitches. Even Shelton had seen enough and brought in Dennis Santana. On the second pitch of the at bat Lane Thomas hit a high fly ball to deep left field. Bryan Reynolds with his back up against the wall, leaped up and made a very nice catch. There was one problem for the Guardians. Josh (Can I Have An Eye Exam Today) Naylor, standing between 2nd and 3rd, did not think he caught the ball. He was off to the races and was rounding third when Reynolds threw the ball to second to easily double him off to end the inning. The Pirates added 2 runs in the top of the 8th on a big 2 out single by Rawhide Rowdy Tellez. Shelton asked Santana if 2 pitches tired him out like it did a couple of games ago, when he did not let him pitch the 9th. Santana said no and pitched the bottom of the 8th. The Guardians went 6 up, 6 down to end the game.

Next Game: This afternoon, Guardians in Cleveland. Mitch (Who Will We Get Today) Keller will pitch the rubber game of the series. The Pirates Morning Report will go on a bit of a hiatus over the next 12 days, as I will be on vacation where I will not be able to watch the games. I will probably do some periodic reports but won’t be back in full force until September 13th. I can’t say that I am really going to miss seeing this team play. Will they go on a hot streak? Only time will tell.