Final Score: Pirates 2 Giants 4
Why The Pirates Lost: The worst offense in baseball continues to shine. The AAA boys went 1 for 8, but at least they did not strike out. The rest of the team struck out 11 times. Four of the 11 strikeouts were called third strikes. They were 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. They scored a run in the first thanks to 2 walks. They scored a run in the 5th thanks to a wild pitch that allowed a sacrifice fly to score a run. They needed help from the Giants to put their two measly runs on the board. The Pirate pitchers had given up only 2 hits over the first 7 innings. Of course, one of those was a home run given up by Andrew Heaney. He has given up 8 home runs in his last 22 innings of work. The Pirates clung to a 2-1 lead heading into the top of the 8th.
Key Moment Of The Game: Isaac Mattson entered the game to start the 8th. He gave up a single on a 66 MPH soft liner to right field. After one out, he walked Rafael Devers. The 6th pitch was called a ball, but it was in the strike zone. He gave up a little pop-up single to right field to load the bases. That is where Don Kelly decided to bring in Dennis Santana. It was a bad move. Mattson has shown that he is capable of pitching out of trouble. There had not been a hard ball hit off of him. Santana gave up two deep fly balls, the first one tying the game. In the 9th, he got the first out, but he gave up back-to-back doubles. Both pitches were right down the middle of the plate. The second double was on an 0-2 pitch. Patrick Bailey singled, giving the Giants a 4-2 lead. The Pirates went quietly in the 9th. The Giants took the series. They might as well have been playing the Indianapolis Indians.
Next Game: Tonight, Reds in Pittsburgh. Who will the Pirates roll out there tonight for the starting lineup? The suspense is killing me. Can we get all 4 AAA players in the lineup tonight? After all, in 557 at-bats they have 95 hits for a sparkling .171 batting average. They have 12 home runs and 41 RBIs. Kyle Schwarber they are not. In 418 at-bats he has 40 home runs. He has 94 RBIs. He is batting .258 and slugs .591. He slugs over twice as much as the AAA boys do. Do you think the Phillies might be interested in a 4-for-1 trade? I bet you if things were reversed the Pirates would be.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 