Final Score: Pirates 3 Reds 1
Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates pitching staff shut down the Reds for the 2nd straight game. Andrew Heaney took 97 pitches to get through 5 innings. He allowed the run on 3 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 4. The bullpen took over the game in the last 4 innings. Chase Shugart, Caleb Ferguson, Tanner Rainey, and Dennis Santana gave up only 1 hit, walked one, and hit a batter. This was the game where the AAA and DFA squad came through. Henry Davis went 2 for 2 with a walk and an RBI. This raised his average to .190. Tommy Pham went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .193. They both contributed to big plays out in the field. Adam Frazier went 2 for 4 with an RBI. He raised his average to .228. Does this change my mind about any of these players? Absolutely not. They should not be on the team. It was nice to see them have a good game, but I will be shocked if any of that trend continues. The offense overall was pretty bad. They had 9 hits and 4 walks, scoring only 3 runs. This time it was enough as the pitchers came through again.
Key Moments Of The Game: The Reds had a lot of traffic on the base paths in the 2nd and 3rd innings but could only score 1 run. Heaney seemed to settle down. He retired the side in order in the 4th and 5th. In the top of the 6th, Chase Shugart came in to pitch. He retired the first two batters. After getting ahead of Spencer Steer 0 and 2, he threw 4 straight balls to walk him. Tyler Stephenson, on the 2nd pitch of the at-bat, ripped a ball down the left field line. Tommy Pham lumbered over to get it. He made a good relay throw to IKF. IKF did likewise with his throw to the plate. For once, Henry Davis made a tag and held on to the ball. The runner was out at the plate by 6 inches. It was pretty much a miracle day for the minor league Pirates. That’s what it takes for the Pirates to win a game 3-1.
Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Pittsburgh. Tonight opens a 4-game series against the Brewers. They are a couple of games below .500. If the Pirates could ever find some offense, there is a real chance they could go 5-2 on this homestand. Mike Burrows is going to start for the Pirates tonight. Carmen Mlodzinski was optioned to AAA. You have to wonder if that was not at his request. Apparently, he came to the Pirates wanting to become a starting pitcher. The obvious move would have been to move him to the bullpen and send down Rainey or Wentz. Maybe Carmen is not aware of how much relievers are making on the free-agent market. Maybe he will develop, but not a great career move in my opinion. We will see if the Pirates can get a little momentum in these last 4 games of the homestand.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 