Final Score: Pirates 0 Astros 3
Why The Pirates Lost: You can’t hit the ball if you do not swing at it. The Pirates made a point of this last night. The Pirates took 27 pitches that were called strikes. The first 5 spots in the batting order took 20 strikes. They were led by Oneil (Throw It Down The Middle I Won’t Swing At It) Cruz, who took 6 strikes on his way to an 0 for 3 night, striking out twice. Bryan Reynolds took 5 strikes on his way to an 0 for 4 night with one strikeout. The top five in the order went 1 for 19 with 7 strikeouts. Just swing at the damn ball. It is not a mystery why they were shut out. Paul Skenes lost his 2nd 8-inning outing of the season. He gave up a home run and two other hits. He struck out 8 and walked one. Dennis Santana gave up a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th. Not that it would have made any difference in the outcome. This gave the Astros a nice cushion going into the bottom of the 9th. The Pirates were shut out for the 10th time this season. Not a good start to the home stand.
The Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had 2 runners caught stealing in the bottom of the 7th and 8th. They had minor threats in the first two innings. Cruz was hit by a pitch in the 1st. He made it around to third but was stranded. In the 2nd, catcher’s interference and a walk put runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. IKF could not get the big hit. At least he did not take a strike. They did not get a hit until the 4th inning. They only got one more runner to 2nd base the rest of the game. In contrast, Christian Walker swung at the first pitch he saw in the strike zone. He hit a home run to give the Astros a 1-0 lead in the top of the 7th.
Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Pittsburgh. Mike Burrows goes for the Pirates. This must be his turnaround game, or it could be his last start as a Pirate for a while. The last two games for the Pirates have been major disappointments. The bullpen and the offense had major meltdowns. My suggestion for the Pirate batters would be to swing at practically everything tonight. You can’t do any worse. At times this offense has looked as bad as any in the history of baseball. It is not even a statistical thing; they just look bad. I do not see how this is going to change any time soon.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 