Final Score: Pirates 4 Royals 3
Why The Pirates Won: The Royals decided to play Pirates baseball. They were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base. For the third consecutive game the team that got the most hits lost the game. The Royals suddenly became the masters of miss opportunities. Top of the 2nd, bases loaded nobody out, 1 run scored. Top of the 3rd, leadoff triple, no runs scored. This was made possible by a great throw by Billy (I Can Throw But I Can’t Hit) Cook to the plate, on a fly ball to right field, that nailed Tommy Pham at the plate. This was followed by two more singles, but of course they did not score. Top of the 4th, 1st and 3rd and one out, no runs. Top of the 6th, bases loaded and one out, one run scored, and that was walked in. In the top of the 7th, a leadoff double, no runs scored. After that, the Royals said the hell with it, let’s just get out of town, going 6 up and 6 down to end the game. This was probably one of the worst games the Royals played all year to allow the Pirates eek out a victory. Jared Jones took 97 pitches just to get through 4 innings. Even with the pitch clock this game took 2 hours and 48 minutes to play.
Key Moment Of The Game: The score was tied 2-2 going into the bottom of the 5th. Billy (I Can Too, Hit) Cook singled to left field. With Cook breaking on the pitch, Isiah Kiner-Falefa stroke a single into centerfield and Cook scored all the way from first base to make the score 3-2. From that point on in the inning the Royals gifted the 4th run to Pirates. They walked 3 of the next 5 baters and 2 of those were with 2 outs to give the Pirates a 4-2 lead. It was a lead that the Pirate bullpen barely managed to protect but they did to help the Pirates avoid the sweep. Bednar and Chapman pitched perfect 8th and 9th innings to seal the win. Let’s go turn some water into wine.
Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. The Pirates open a 7 game road trip in 7 days against the Cardinals (4) and the Reds (3). Man are these guys going to need the rest. Shelton is already scheduling their days off. Such a fragile young team. They are going to play baseball 10 days in a row with trips to St. Louis and Cincinnati. Holy shitballs how are they going to hold up. Already Bednar Chapman and Santana have all been told they won’t pitch until Wednesday. I heard that Bednar was very relieved.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 