Final Score: Pirates 2 Padres 8
Why The Pirates Lost: The bullpen and the defense completely crapped the bed the last 3 innings of the game. Justin Lawrence came in and got racked around for 2 doubles and a home run, giving up 4 runs. This was all preceded by a Nick Gonzalez throwing error that opened the floodgates. The defense even got worse in the 9th inning. Konnor (Why Didn’t I Start Today Even Though I Signed The Biggest Contract In Pirate History) Griffin booted a ground ball. Nick Yorke threw the ball low toward 2nd base for another error in the inning. This led to 4 more Padre runs. Half of the 8 runs the Padres scored were unearned. All of this wasted a great pitching performance by Mitch Keller. He went 6 innings throwing only 75 pitches. He gave up no runs, 3 hits, walked 1, and struck out 4. I am not sure why the Pirates thought he could not come out for the 7th inning. I am not saying the Pirates would have won today, but I saw absolutely no benefit to not starting Griffin today. He had gotten 2 hits yesterday. What better way to get his confidence going than to play today? He is 19 years old for God’s sake. He does not need rest. If anybody needed a day off, it was Brandon Lowe. He was 2 for his last 16 at-bats and hung another 0 for 4 collar today. I do not know if it was because of the big signing announcement yesterday of Griffin, but the entire Pirate organization sleepwalked through this game.
Key Moment Of The Game: After the disastrous top of the 7th inning, the Pirates actually got back into the ball game. Nick Yorke opened the inning by singling to center field. Nick Gonzalez ripped a double down the left field line, putting runners on second and third with no one out. The Padres brought in lefty Kyle Hart. The Pirates made their only good move of the day. They pinch-hit for Spencer Horwitz with Konnor Griffin. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Griffin took a splitter and drilled it down the left field line. Ramon Laureano made a fine sliding catch of the ball to get the first out, but it did score a run. If Laureano does not make that catch, 2 runs are in and Griffin is at least on 2nd with no outs. Joey Bart singled to drive in a run, and Jake Mangum walked. The score was 4-2 Padres. The Pirates had runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. Oneil Cruz hit a 110 MPH ground ball that Gavin Sheets was able to corral and get a force at 2nd base. This brought up Brandon Lowe, who at the moment is hitting .063 against lefties. This would have been a great time to let Billy Cook or even Marcell Ozuna pinch-hit. Ozuna has a .333 OBP against lefties this year. They let Lowe bat. He hit a big 84 MPH can of corn out to left field for the final out. The score was 4-2 going into the 8th inning. You have 3 well-rested studs out in the bullpen: Hunter Barco, Mason Montgomery, and Dennis Santana. The Pirates decided to bring in Jose Urquidy. Granted the defense was terrible, but the guy still gave up 4 hits, including 3 in the 9th. You talk about a clueless manager. The Pirates never tried to win this game, beginning with the lineup card to the bullpen choices.
Next Game: Tomorrow afternoon the Cubs in Chicago. The Pirate Morning Report will be going on about a 10-day hiatus from the daily reports. I will be on vacation. I will probably do some summaries about 2 or 3 times while I am away. The morning report will resume on April 19th. The Pirates will play 9 games while I am away. It would be nice if they won 6 of them, but the way things looked yesterday, I cannot be very optimistic. You cannot afford to have a day like that if you are really going to contend. I would not have even minded seeing Billy Cook play yesterday than some of the players that they played. Someone needs to tell the Pirate manager that if you are trailing by 2 runs going into the top of the 8th, that you are not out of the game. I know you cannot win them all, but at least you should try.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 