Final Score: Pirates 3 Astros 0
Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates returned the favor by shutting out the Astros. Mike Burrows pitched an outstanding 5 and 1/3 innings. He gave up 5 hits. He struck out 6 and walked no one. He threw only 70 pitches. The bullpen preserved the shutout. Braxton Ashcraft had another solid performance out of the bullpen. He struck out 3, giving up one hit in 2 innings of work. The Pirate offense put 3 runs on the board. They had 8 hits and 2 walks. You could say they scratched out those 3 runs. All the Pirate runs scored on outs. Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out to score the 1st run. McCutchen hit a sacrifice fly for run no. 2. Adam (I Was Surprised I Was Playing) Frazier was particularly bad. He came up with the bases loaded in the 1st and grounded weakly out. In the 3rd, with 1st and 3rd and nobody out, he grounded into a double play. This play scored the Pirates’ final run. In the bottom of the 5th, he grounded into another double play. Runners were on 1st and 2nd, and this ended the inning. Fortunately, in his last at-bat, there was no one on base. He hit a soft liner to centerfield. Thank God the Pirates won. He almost single-handedly destroyed the offense.
Key Moments Of The Game: Any time there was a hint of trouble for Burrows, he quickly resolved it. He gave up a two-out double in the 2nd. On the next pitch, he got Jake Meyers to ground out. In the top of the 4th, Jose Altuve led off with a single. On the next pitch, Christian Walker grounded into a double play. He gave up another single. He struck out the next batter. He gave up a leadoff double in the 6th. Three pitches later, Isaac Paredes lined out to left field. Chase Shugart came in. He walked Altuve. He struck out Walker. He induced Yainer Diaz to ground out to third. The Astros never had another threat the rest of the game.
Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller is going for the Pirates. Veteran starter Framber Valdez goes for the Astros. He is a lefty. This should be the starting lineup and batting order for the Pirates: McCutchen DH, Gonzales 2nd base, Reynolds RF, Endy Rodriguez 1st base, Oneil Cruz CF, Canario LF, Davis C, Hayes 3rd base, IKF shortstop. This puts Pham, Triolo, Horwitz (without the a), and Frazier on the bench. This will not happen. In fact, one or more of those four players will probably start. It is just so sad.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 