Final Score: Pirates 1 Cardinals 4
Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates folded like an accordion against a division rival that is ahead of them in the standings. Their performance was sloppy and lackluster. Four of the weak right handed Pirate hitters participated in the game. Jared Jones gave up a 2 run homer to Jimmy Crooks on a 2-2 pitch in the bottom of the third. Crooks is batting .171 and was 1 for his last 14 at bats with 6 strikeouts. Sloppy. Flores and Davis let a pop up drop right between them. Sloppy. Oneil Cruz bobbled a ball off the wall. Sloppy. Jared Triolo made a halfhearted effort on a one hopper for an error. Lack luster. Jacob Gonzalez made a wild throw on a routine ground ball to allow the 4th run to score. Sloppy. This offense is so bad that Greg Brown did not even want to give them credit for the run. After Gonzalez made his throw, Brown said “The Cardinals now lead the Pirates four to nothing”. Sloppy. What was amazing except for the Gonzalez throw, all the sloppiness and miscues really did not cost the Pirates all that much. This shows you just how bad the Cardinals are, and we still could not beat them. The Cardinals used four pitchers and only one of them had an ERA under 4.40 and two of them were over 5. This team just cannot hit when it really counts. Oneil Cruz got a hit in the top of the 8th but the ball hit Bryan Reynolds in the foot for the final out of the inning. Sloppy. The Pirates are 6 games under .500 and tied in the loss column with the Reds for last place.
Key Moments In The Game: There were not many in this clunker for the Pirates. They only had 4 runners in scoring positions and got one hit. They rarely threaten to score for the entire game. It was another weak hitting right handed lineup that Don Kelly put on the field. After the two run homer by Crooks the Reds were able to add a run in the bottom of the 4th. They got two singles to start the inning putting runners on 1st and 3rd with no outs. Nathan Church hit a fly ball out to centerfield. With Jordon Walker on 3rd it was unlikely that Cruz would be able to throw him out. Cruz made sure there was no chance, by taking 3 hops before he threw the ball. Sloppy. With the win the Cardinals moved to within 4.5 games of the wild card. Something the Pirates can only dream about.
Next Game: This afternoon, the Cardinals in St. Louis. The Pirates are going to start Donny Undecided. Kelly thought he would take after the Pirate bats and be undecided on who would be the starter for today’s game. The Pirates look like they have no plan when they come to the plate. Lack luster. The Pirates can only lose 6 more games to make the season meaningless. It looks to me like that should be right around Labor Day.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 