Final Score: Pirates 10 Marlins 3
Why The Pirates Won: The offense came to life. The Pirates scored 10 runs on 15 hits. They walked 3 times, striking out just 6 times. All nine players in the starting lineup got at least one hit. Andrew McCutchen and Adam Frazier led the way with 3 each. Everyone either scored a run or drove one in. Bryan Reynolds drove in 3 runs. Mike Burrows only went 4 and 1/3 innings. He gave up 2 runs on 4 hits but did walk 3. He struck out 6 throwing 66 pitches. I was a little surprised he was taken out in the top of the 5th. Burrows had given up a leadoff double. Nick Gonzales made an error that put runners on 1st and 3rd. Jesus Sanchez hit a sacrifice fly that only went 276 feet to make the score 4-2. Don Kelly made the move, bringing in Chase Shugart. Shugart, even though he walked one, got out of the inning. The Pirates broke open the game in the bottom of the 6th, and the bullpen coasted home from there. The Marlins and Pirates committed a combined 5 errors. Everything is good when you win your 4th in a row.
Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirate bats were quiet the first two innings. Things changed in the third. The Pirates loaded the bases with a walk, a single, and a walk to start the 3rd. Andrew McCutchen hit a little dribbler that the pitcher whiffed on. The game was tied 1-1. Bryan Reynolds, on a 1-2 count, cleared the bases with a triple to right-center field. He was on 3rd with no outs. Unfortunately, he was stranded there. You hoped that this would not come back to haunt the Pirates. It did not. The Pirates scored 4 in the bottom of the 6th. This was due in part to the Marlins throwing the ball all over the field. This happened on a Ke’Bryan Hayes bunt that scored two runs. The Pirates added single runs in the 7th and 8th. The Pirates had a rare blowout win for their 4th in a row.
Next Game: Tonight, Marlins in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller goes against Sandy Alcantara. Alcantara missed all of last year due to Tommy John surgery. This year has not gone well so far. The 2022 Cy Young winner has an ERA near 8 this season. With Keller’s luck this season, let’s hope he does not get well tonight. The Marlins did contribute to the Pirates’ win last night. Their walks and sloppy fielding contributed to many of the runs. Hopefully, all of this will continue for a 5th win in a row. We will take them any way we can get them.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 