Final Score: Pirates 2 Phillies 1
Why The Pirates Won: Paul Skenes pitched another gem, going 7 and 2/3 innings. He gave up 1 unearned run and 2 hits. He struck out 7 and walked 1. The Pirates botched a relay play that allowed the Phillies to score their only run. The Pirate offense, anemic as ever, pushed across 2 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. They struck out 12 times. Both teams made some outstanding plays in the field to help their pitchers. This was the best weekend of baseball the Pirates played all season. This game boiled down to two half-innings: the bottom of the 8th. During this inning, the Pirates managed to scratch out a run. In the top of the 9th, the Pirates made a bold move.
The Key Moments Of The Game: The score was 1-1 going into the bottom of the 8th. Oneil Cruz led off the inning against the left-handed starter, Cristopher Sánchez. Sánchez had Cruz’s number the whole game. He struck him out twice and got him to ground out weakly to second. I would not have minded if Don Kelly had pinch-hit for him. Sánchez surprisingly walked him on 4 pitches. Only the first pitch was close. Sánchez was replaced by Orion Kerkering. Cruz stole second on the 2nd pitch of Andrew McCutchen’s at-bat. McCutchen, on the 5th pitch, blooped a soft liner just out of the reach of 2nd baseman Bryson Stott. Cruz stumbled approaching 3rd base but turned on the jets and beat the throw to score the go-ahead run. The Pirates added a walk and a hit by pitch to load the bases. Mixed in around that were three strikeouts, so the Pirates led 2-1 going to the ninth. Braxton Ashcraft stayed in to pitch the 9th. Bryson Stott hit a hard ground ball down to first. Jared Triolo made an outstanding play. He got the first out. Trea Turner took the first pitch he saw and ripped it down the left field line for a double. This is where the Pirates went against baseball logic. They intentionally walked Kyle Schwarber. This put the go-ahead run on 1st base. Generally, you never want to put the go-ahead run on base. This time it worked beautifully for the Pirates. Alec Bohm hit a weak chopper just to the left of the mound. Nick Gonzales crossed second base to make the grab. He stopped his momentum and came back to touch 2nd base. He gunned on to first to easily finish the double play. Just like that, the Pirates had swept the Phillies. They won the last two games by the identical score of 2-1. Ashcraft got the first win of his career.
Next Game: Tonight, Marlins in Pittsburgh. The team that the Pirates opened this dreadful season with, the Miami Marlins, come to town. If the Pirates are ever going to turn the season around, this is the time to do it. They are 4-2 on the home stand. If they can sweep the Marlins, it will give them some real momentum for the first time all year. The Marlins are 15 games below .500. The offense needs to finally snap out of it if the Pirates are going to pull this off. It would be nice to see some new blood infused into this team. We all know that is not going to happen.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 