Final Score: Pirates 9 Dodgers 7
Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates finally took advantage of what a team gave them. The Pirates were out-hit by the Dodgers 12 to 8. The Pirates received 8 walks. Four of those walks scored directly. Two more led to runs being scored. The Pirates were 5 for 11 with runners in scoring position. The AAA boys contributed mightily to the win. They went 3 for 9 with 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored. The Pirate pitching got beat up pretty good, but I would call it a gritty performance overall. Bubba Chandler pitched innings 3 through 6. He gave up 3 runs on 6 hits, including 2 home runs. One was Shohei Ohtani’s 46th of the year. The Pirate team has hit 100 home runs. Chandler never backed down, striking out 3 and not walking a batter. The Pirates absorbed two comebacks by the Dodgers. They came back from 4-0 to tie the game. The Pirates took a 7-4 lead in the 6th. The Dodgers cut it to 7-6 in the top of the 7th. The Pirates took advantage of some more walks and added a run in the 7th and the 8th. The 9th was shaky, but Dennis Santana held on to give the Pirates a 9-7 win.
Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates had taken the lead 7-4 in the bottom of the 6th. Isaac Mattson came in to start the 7th. Just like everybody else, he got lit up early. A single and a double put runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Mookie Betts was the next batter. He grounded out to short, and a run scored, moving Ohtani to third. Freddie Freeman hit a sharp ground ball back to the mound. The Pirates were able to get Ohtani in a rundown with Freeman moving to 2nd. Will Smith was the batter. With the count 1-2, an up-and-in fastball glanced off his bat right into the glove of Henry Davis. The umpire missed it entirely. Apparently, this is not reviewable. He should have been out. With new life, Smith singled up the middle to make the score 7-6. Mattson retired the next batter on a ground out to end the inning. The Pirates added on and held on for a nice 9-7 win over the vaunted Dodgers.
Next Game: Tonight, Dodgers in Pittsburgh. Shohei Ohtani goes for the Dodgers tonight. It was nice to see that the Pirates finally brought up Nick Yorke. He got a hit and did not look bad at first base. The Pirates are surprisingly 5-2 on this brutal stretch of games. They actually looked like a baseball team last night, showing grit and guts. I hate to be Mr. Negative here, but if the Pirates go on a bit of a tear in September, let’s say 16 and 8, it could save BC’s job. I do not think that this is a good thing.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 