Final Score: Pirates 4 Padres 9
Why The Pirates Lost: It was strictly routine. Another lousy starting lineup. No Isiah Kiner-Falefa for the 2nd straight game. He is batting .280. Meanwhile, Jared Triolo and Alexander Canario started. They each did get a hit to raise their batting averages to .170 and .118. Even though they did score 4 runs, the Pirate offense was 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. One of their runs was a gift from Dylan Cease. They only had 7 hits to go along with 5 walks. They made 2 errors and generally were sloppy in the field. The pitching was even worse. Mitch Keller went 5 innings, giving up 5 runs on 8 hits. The bullpen continued the good work in the final 4 innings, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits. Colin Holderman was the best. In the 9th inning, he gave up a run without giving up a hit. He walked the first batter. He hit the second batter. A bunt moved them to second and third. A sacrifice fly made it 9-4. It was just another routine blowout loss for the Pirates. Manager Shelton must be furious because they can no longer be competitive. He set the bar very low for the Pirates after the first series of the year. They can’t reach that anymore.
Key Moment Of The Game: The poor lineup that Shelton brought out to home plate. The Pirates had just tied the game in the bottom of the 4th. Keller got the first out in the top of the 5th. He fell apart after that. In the span of 13 pitches, Keller gave up a single, a double, a single, and a single. Before you could say Mitch Keller is an average Major League pitcher, the Padres took the lead 5-2. Surprisingly, the Pirates pecked away with single runs in the 5th and 6th against the vaunted Padre bullpen. The score remained 5-4 going to the 8th inning. After one out, Caleb Ferguson replaced Chase Shugart. He gave up two singles in 5 pitches. The runner from first advanced to third on a throwing error by Jared (I Thought It Was A Home Run) Triolo. Ferguson struck out the next batter, and it looked like he would keep the game close. It was not to be. He gave up 2 more singles, and it was 8-4 Padres in the blink of an eye. The Pirates went quietly away the last 2 innings. Another loss was in the books.
Next Game: This afternoon, Padres in Pittsburgh. The Pirates are 1-3 on the home stand with 2 games remaining. I guess we won’t be seeing the good lineup anymore. In the last 2 games, there were 5 batting averages under .170. It is amazing. The Pirates have the players. They just do not play them. You have to wonder, will they ever put Liover Peguero in the starting lineup? Matt Gorsky has seen limited action. The Pirates have very bad players that are playing. Losing is not a mystery.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 