Final Score: Pirates 1 Cardinals 4
Why The Pirates Lost: The offense is back to normal. They are passive, taking 28 strikes. At one stretch, Liover Peguero saw 9 pitches in two at-bats and took them all. He struck out on 6 pitches and did not swing at one. I hear that Daniel Vogelbach is his personal advisor. They are pathetic, swinging at 18 balls that were out of the strike zone. They are putrid, going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, stranding 8 men on base. Only one AAA boy started, Suwinski, and he went 1 for 3. Triolo pinch-hit for him in the 9th and singled. The AAA boys did better than the team. Braxton Ashcraft pitched a nice 5 and 2/3 innings. He gave up 1 run on 4 hits. He struck out 5 and walked 1. He had thrown just 73 pitches. There was a runner on first with 2 outs. Don Kelly made the move to take him out. He decided to replace him with the worst reliever in the history of baseball, Yohan Ramirez. Maybe I exaggerate a little there. However, his ERA after this awful performance is a whopping 6.56. There were other options out there for the Pirates. They were lucky in the 6th. Ramirez hit a batter. The next batter parked a ball 384 feet, but to dead center field. Cruz made the catch to end the inning. The Pirates just could not stand their good fortune. They brought Ramirez out for the 7th. There is no good excuse for that move. This organization never has a real urgency to win. Taking the Cardinals 3 out of 4 games in St. Louis would have been a huge psychological boost for this team. Pirate management does not care. Ramirez came out for the 7th and got slaughtered. Of course, he walked the first batter he faced in the 7th. In just three pitches, he allowed a double and then a home run. Before you could say, “Why is he on this team?”, the score was 4-1. They took him out, but it was way too late. The Pirates never threatened in the 8th and 9th.
The Key Moments Of The Game: Like the Cardinals the game before, the Pirates could not take advantage of early opportunities. Tommy Pham hit a home run in the first, demonstrating what you can do when you swing at a pitch in the strike zone. After the home run, the Pirates managed to get 2nd and 3rd with one out, but they could not score. Cruz popped out, and Bart flew out. In the top of the 2nd, a leadoff walk and single put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been one of their hottest hitters against the Cardinals. So what do the Pirates do? They have IKF bunt, moving the runners up to 2nd and 3rd with one out. The next two batters struck out, and the Pirates never threatened again for the rest of the game. The Pirates guaranteed a loss when they brought out Ramirez to pitch the 7th inning, and he did not disappoint.
Next Game: Tonight, Red Sox in Boston. This starts a brutal 9-game stretch for the Pirates. Three games against Boston on the road, three games against the Dodgers at home, and finally three games against the Brewers at home. Paul Skenes is going for the Pirates tonight. Will the Red Sox be another notch on his belt? Even if they are, it will not guarantee a victory for the Pirates with that offense. It has been brutal the last 2 games. We will see how many runs they score in these next 9 games. I am betting under 18.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 