Final Score: Pirates 1 Brewers 4
Why The Pirates Lost: The offense has gone missing in action again. Maybe they all need to be fitted for glasses. They struck out 10 times. Six times they were called out on strikes. Three times they swung at pitches out of the zone. Only once did they strike out swinging on a pitch in the strike zone. Overall, they took 18 called strikes and swung at 20 pitches out of the zone. Nick Yorke swung at all 7 pitches he saw in one at-bat; only 4 were in the strike zone. Alexander Canario, with runners on first and second and one out, took the first two pitches for strikes. Neither one was a borderline pitch. This all helped Brandon Woodruff come out of his funk. He only gave up 2 hits while striking out 8 in 6 innings. The Pirates were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The last 6 batters in the order went 1 for 20. This ensured that Mitch Keller would go down to his 14th defeat. He pitched well, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits, walking none in 6 and 1/3 innings of work. Despite some improvement in August, the Pirates remain the worst scoring team in baseball. They are 14 runs behind the 2nd worst Rockies, who have played one game less.
Key Moments Of The Game: It was not a good day for Don Kelley. Kyle Nicolas was cruising along, retiring the 3 batters he had faced. Kelley replaced Nicolas with lefty Evan Sisk to face lefty Sal Frelick. The one problem is that Frelick hits lefties and righties the same. Not as much power, but the average and on-base percentage are the same. On deck was Jackson Chourio, who hits lefties 100 points higher than righties. The result: single, home run, 4-0 Brewers. It is a shame no one told Kelley about this. In the bottom of the 8th, the Pirates had a little threat going. Runners were on 1st and 2nd with one out. Kelley pinch-hit for Spencer Horwitz with a left-hander on the mound for the Brewers. The only problem was he pinch-hit for him with AAA Canario. They both hit lefties the same, which is lousy. This would have been the time to bring McCutchen in, who has a .281/.366/.421 slash line against lefties. Canario took 2 called strikes to start the at-bat. He hit into a double play to end the inning. If he had never swung, the Pirates may have been better off. I guess no one informed Kelley of these stats. McCutchen was on deck when the game was over. Quite a contribution.
Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. Bubba Chandler will make his first major league start today. I feel sorry for him. The Triple P offense seems to be back. In the last 2 games, the offense has scored 3 runs on 11 hits. Inefficiency at its best. You have to wonder if the Pirates are finally going to let Ryan Kreidler and his .105 batting average make an appearance. I have heard that he just stays in the locker room and is not allowed to sit in the dugout. He was recalled on August 31. This is September 7th. Let’s hope inactivity can create a miracle. It is more likely that the Brewers will get the sweep. I doubt the Pirates will score a run.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 