Final Score: Pirates 3 Cardinals 6
Why The Pirates Lost: Another anemic offensive performance. Five members of the starting lineup did not get a hit. The Pirates were able to get 7 hits and 4 walks but not much production. Bryan Reynolds hit a home run after a Cruz dribbling infield hit. The rest of the hits and walks produced 1 run. They were 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left 8 men on base. Hayes, Triolo, and Pham hit one ball out of the infield and did not get a hit. Carmen Mlodzinski had his typical start, going less than 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. His ERA is still above 6. The bullpen gave up the rest of the runs. Chase Shugart had one of the most interesting and worst outings of the year.
The Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates led 3-2 going into the bottom of the 6th inning. They had scored the run in the top of the 4th. They had the bases loaded with one out. They had a chance to break the game open. Jared (Why Do I Keep Starting) Triolo grounded into a double play to end the inning. Ryan Borucki got the first out in the 6th. Chase Shugart entered the game. To be fair, Shugart has pitched very well this year for a 28-year-old who has never pitched in the majors before. He threw 6 pitches to Nolan Arenado before walking him. The 6th pitch he threw to Wilson Contreras was hit 111 MPH into the seats, and the Cardinals led 4-3. His first pitch to Nolan Gorman was a strike. Shugart’s next 4 pitches were hit for a single, single, single, and a double. The Cardinals stretched the lead to 6-3. In 11 pitches, he had given up 4 runs on 5 hits. He did not retire a batter. Efficiency at its worst. The Pirates put some traffic on the base paths in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. As usual, they left all of the runners on base and did not score a run. Oneil Cruz had 4 walks a couple of games ago. They may have been the worst thing for him. He has struck out 3 times in the last 2 games. Each time was on a called third strike right down the middle of the plate.
Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. Paul Skenes goes tonight for the Pirates. Skenes is not having a Cy Young season so far. He is going up against the one team that has given more problems than any other team in the league. I, for one, will be watching his velocity. It would be nice to see him shut down the Cardinals. It would be nice to see the young players start. It would be nice to see some young players come up from AAA. It would be nice to see the Pirate organization care about winning games. Can they at least send Triolo down? Please, pretty, pretty please. I would even go 3 games without saying anything negative about Derek The Shadow Shelton.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 