Final Score: Pirates 1 Angels 0
Why The Pirates Won: Jared Jones pitched one of his best games of the year. He went 6 innings, giving up just 3 hits, walking 1, and striking out 9 batters. Wilber Dotel pitched a solid 2 innings, not giving up a hit and walking one while striking out 2. Mason Montgomery survived a leadoff single by Mike Trout to preserve the 1-0 win and get his 9th save of the year. Konnor Griffin started his first game in over two months. He did not get a hit but still made a huge impact by scoring the only run of the game on a Jake Mangum double. He flew around the bases and scored all the way from 1st base on a bang-bang play at the plate. He made a great slide and barely touched the plate with his left hand. Thank God for those big sliding gloves. Otherwise, it was a 50-50 night for the Pirates, with the Diamondbacks and Marlins losing while the Padres and Cardinals won. The Pirates find themselves 4.5 games out of the wild card but 5 games in the loss column. They did pull themselves up to 2.5 games above last place. Obviously, they need to sweep the Angels.
Key Moments of the Game: It was the gritty inning that Wilber Dotel pitched in the top of the seventh. He had just come in for Jared Jones. He opened the inning by issuing a walk on six pitches. It took him another six pitches to get a force out at second. Christian Moore worked the count to 3-2. He took a 99 MPH fastball and laced a low line drive at 106 MPH to center field. Oneil Cruz had to come in quickly and made a great sliding catch on the ball. Dotel struck out Josh Lowe on another six-pitch at-bat to end the inning. Jones survived a first and third with no outs situation in the top of the second. He was able to induce a pop-up and struck out the next two batters on eleven pitches. This was a great pitching duel that the Pirates were able to win. They have to find a way to win two more.
Next Game: Tonight, Angels in Pittsburgh. The Angels are starting lefty Yusei Kikuchi, who is making only his second start since going on the IL in late April. In his last start, he held the Phillies to 2 runs, going 7 innings. Braxton Ashcraft is going for the Pirates. I have the feeling another shutout may be needed, given the problems the Pirates have against lefties. I wonder if Billy Cook will start. Is this one of Oneil Cruz’s “scheduled” days off? Will Nick Yorke get a chance to start? Will Konnor Griffin get a rest so his body can recover from that exhausting run from 1st base last night? I am sure Don Kely and the “brain trust” are actually considering this. Do the Pirates even know they still have a chance at the wild card? Stay tuned.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 