Final Score: Pirates 3 Dodgers 4
Why The Pirates Lost: After getting off to a robust start against Tarik Skubal, where 5 of the first 8 batters got hits, the Pirates had only one more hit the rest of the game. Skubal either found something or the Pirates just reverted back to being their old selves. Either way it resulted in the Pirates losing their second close game to the Dodgers. Over the last 24 outs of the game the Pirates struck out 15 times. They only put 10 balls in play and 8 of those were under 80 MPH. One of the 8 was a sacrifice bunt. They hit two hard balls over 100 MPH which resulted in an out and a one out double. Jared Jones had the typical Pirate start. Four innings, throwing 87 pitches, walking 5 and working from behind most of the 4 innings. He was fortunate that he gave up just 2 runs. For whatever reason, Pirate starting pitchers just refuse to pound the strike zone. In the bottom of the 5th Yohan Ramirez came on and gave up the lead after facing just 4 batters. Of course he opened the inning by hitting Mookie Betts. It was 4-3 after 5 innings and the Pirates could not tie the game up. The Pirates are 7.5 games out of the wild card and just a half game out of last place.
Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had lit up Tarik Skubal for 3 runs on 3 hits in the first inning highlighted by an Oneil Cruz triple, that he hit on the first pitch of the at bat, driving in the first two runs. Rafael Flores knocked in Cruz on a ground out. In the bottom of the first Jones retired the side in order. The Pirates opened the second inning by getting two singles. Henry Davis sacrificed the runners to second and third. Then the strikeouts began, with Nick Gonazles and Esmerlyn Valdez going down on strikes. In the top of the 8th the Pirates got a one out double from Valdez. During the Bryan Reynolds at bat pinch runner Billy (Why I’ll Never Know) Cook was wild pitched to third. Of course, Reynolds struck out. Dave Roberts brought in a lefty to face Oneil Cruz. Cruz took one good swing at a fast ball right down the middle and missed. Then he stood there taking a call third strike that was well inside the inner third of the plate. The Pirate went down quietly in the 9th.
Next Game: This afternoon, Dodgers in Los Angeles. It looks like the Pirates are going with the either an opener or a full fledged bullpen game today. Blake Snell will be starting for the Dodgers who is still trying to find his way after a long stint on the IL. The Pirates are doing just enough to lose. If they lose today, I feel you can officially put a cap on the season. They are heading to San Diego after this game and the Padres are 22-12 since the All Star break and 39 and 26 at home. No matter what happen today they have to sweep the Padres. Stay tuned.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 