Final Score: Pirates 7 Reds 9
Why the Pirates lost: The bullpen, walks, and mediocre defense did the Pirates in again. This time the Pirates did not walk a ton of batters—4—but 2 of them really came back to haunt them. Two bad hitters, Eugenio Suarez with an OPS of .655 and Jose Trevino with an OPS of .465, did some serious damage. Trevino went 2 for 4, driving in 2 runs and scoring one. Suarez hit the big go-ahead 3-run homer in the top of the 9th. Gregory Soto, in 4 of his last 7 outings, has given up 2 runs or more. He has given up 12 hits in 6 innings of work; in one outing, he did not retire a batter. He has not regularly closed games since 2022. Gee, I wonder why. Even though Soto lost the game in the 9th, this was a complete staff failure. Jared Jones, in 4 and 2/3 innings, gave up 4 runs, 3 earned, to see his ERA go up to 5.96. Of course, he gave up a home run. The bullpen for the day pitched the last 4 and 1/3 innings, giving up 5 runs on 6 hits. All of this wasted a big offensive performance by the Pirates. The Pirates’ awful hitter Jared Triolo, with an OPS of .592, went 3 for 4 with 1 RBI. The Pirates fall below .500 and are getting closer to last place.
Key Moments Of The Game: This game was tied 4-4 going into the 6th inning. In the top of the 6th, Jose Trevino got the big hit, driving in 2 runs to make the score 6-4. Yohan Ramirez hit a batter to load the bases. Elly De La Cruz, who has not had a hit in the series, hit into an inning-ending double play. If the Pirates had won, this would have been the key moment of the game. So would have Esmerlyn Valdez’s home run in the bottom of the 8th to give the Pirates a 7-6 lead. In the bottom of the 9th, Soto walked De La Cruz after giving up a lead-off single. He induced Sal Stewart to hit into a 4-6-3 double play. This brought up left-hand hitting J.J. Bleday. He is hitting .200 against left-hand pitching. He has hit 3 of his 13 home runs against lefties. This is the guy that has to beat you. Instead, Soto walks him on 6 pitches. Bleday never swung at a pitch. Suarez came to bat. Against lefties he has 3 home runs in 43 at-bats for a home run every 14 at-bats. Against righties, he has 5 home runs in 152 at-bats for a home run every 30 at-bats. His on-base percentage is 48 points lower against right-handed pitchers. Soto was struggling. The Pirates ignored all of this, or maybe they don’t have access to such meaningful stats. It cost them the game.
Next game: This afternoon Reds, in Pittsburgh. In a series that I thought the Pirates needed to sweep they are one game away from being swept. Mitch Keller goes for the Pirates today. If he gets knocked around the Pirates will have two starters in their rotation with ERAs over 5. This entire pitching staff has taken a major step backward and there is no end in sight. The bullpen had a nice little run there but that is the key word, little. They did it against teams that have had a hard time scoring runs. I do not know what the pitching coaches are doing but it is not working. They cannot even play the injury card. The Pirate staff has been one of the healthiest in the majors. If something is not done soon, this team is not going to finish over .500 let alone make the playoffs.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 