Category: sports

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Get The Sweep

Final Score: Pirates 6 Tigers 1

Why The Pirates Won: Spencer Horwitz’s first career grand slam led the Pirates to a 6-1 victory. It may not have won the game, but it sure made the win a heck of a lot easier. Bailey Falter threw 7 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits. He struck out a season-high 8 batters and walked none. He threw only 87 pitches. The Pirates scored all their runs in the first 3 innings. Andrew McCutchen hit a solo home run in the first. Bryan Reynolds led off the bottom of the 3rd with a double. He moved to third on a deep fly ball to right by Nick Gonzales. Oneil Cruz hit a 363-foot fly ball to center to drive in the 6th and final run. The bullpen got a much-needed rest with Carmen Mlodzinski pitching the final two innings. The 3-game sweep came surprisingly easy for the Pirates. They looked so pathetic against the White Sox. It is hard to believe that they won these next games. They scored 17 runs in the 3 games.

The Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates loaded the bases in the bottom of the 2nd on a single and two walks. There was one out. Isiah Kiner-Falefa struck out on 3 pitches. The last two were called strikes. It looked like the Pirates were going to blow another opportunity. Spencer Horwitz took an opening cutter for a ball. The next cutter was in the strike zone, out over the plate about thigh level. Horwitz did not miss it. He blasted it 416 feet to right-center field for his first career grand slam. It was the biggest 2-out hit the Pirates have had in the last 2 months. It blew open the game in the Pirates’ favor, 5 to 0. From that moment on, Bailey Falter was dominant, challenging the Tigers for the next 5 innings. The Tigers only had one at-bat with runners in scoring position.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Diamondbacks in Pittsburgh. The Pirates wrap up this home stand with a weekend series against the Diamondbacks. Mike Burrows goes on Friday. The bullpen will be well-rested. Can the Pirates keep the momentum going? Probably not, but we can always hope. Let’s just hope they don’t overdo it on their day off. The trade deadline is looming. It is still a mystery what the Pirates will wind up doing. I don’t think that even they know. It could be the last few games as a Pirate for many players. We can only hope.

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Pirate Morning Report: Good Golly The Offense Wins One

Final Score: Pirates 8 Tigers 5

Why The Pirates Won: The offense came alive. This was only the third game all year that the Pirates won when the other team scored 5 runs or more. The Cardinals, who are two games over .500, have done that 11 times. The Pirate offense did the job yesterday in a big way. They had 14 hits, with 8 of them being doubles. Spencer Horwitz had 3 hits for the 2nd straight game. Bryan Reynolds had 3 hits. They each had 2 RBIs. Hold on to your hats; Oneil Cruz scored a run on a hustle play. Tommy Pham continues to increase his trade value. He had 3 hits with 2 RBIs. Alex Canario struck out 4 straight times just so you knew you were watching the Pirates. It did not hurt that the Tigers played some lackluster defense. The Pirates’ pitching staff got plagued by the long ball. Not a big deal when your team scores 8 runs. Mitch Keller went 6 innings, giving up a 3-run homer. He gave up 6 hits total and walked 3. Caleb Ferguson gave up the other two runs on a 451-foot blast by Jahmai Jones. David Bednar allowed the tying run to come to the plate with one out. He struck out the last two batters to end the game. The Pirates were swept by the team with the worst record in the American League. Today they will have a chance to sweep the team that has the best record in the American League. Don’t you just love sports?

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates held a precarious 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the 6th. Keller’s last two innings were shaky, and the bullpen was about to take over. Spencer Heywood struck out on a wild pitch and wound up at first base to open the inning. For once, the Pirates took advantage. Gonzales hit a weak ground ball out that moved Spencer to second. Bryan Reynolds singled to center to bring Horwitz home. Tommy Pham doubled down the line in left, scoring Reynolds. Cruz walked. Ke’Bryan (I Can’t Wait Until He Is Traded So I Don’t Have To Type That Apostrophe Anymore) Hayes singled home Pham. The Pirates’ lead jumped right back up to 5 runs. As it turned out, they needed those 3 runs.

Next Game: This afternoon, Tigers in Pittsburgh. Bailey Falter is going for the Pirates today. He is not doing quite as bad as his clone Andrew Heaney. However, he has given up 10 earned runs in his last 3 outings. The other problem with today’s game is that the bullpen has been pretty well spent. Santana should be available. The B squad must come through today. This is necessary if the Pirates are going to pull out the sweep. Maybe the bats can come through 2 days in a row. Maybe I will win the lottery today.

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Pirates Morning Report: Skenes Leads The Pitching Staff Back

Final Score: Pirates 3 Tigers 0

Why The Pirates Won: Paul Skenes pitched another solid outing. He only gave up 3 hits and walked 1. He struck out 6, throwing only 86 pitches in 6 innings of work. I did not have a big problem with them taking him out. The season is over, and why put any stress on his workload? He has proven he can throw 100 pitches if necessary. Unless he is doing something spectacular, limiting him to about 90 pitches a game is fine. The bullpen did the job. Bednar needed a great play by Tommy Pham and an “at ’em” ball to keep it from being more interesting. After losing 3 straight to the last-place White Sox, they wound up beating the best team in the American League. The offense had one good inning, scoring 3 runs. Overall, they were as bad as usual. The Tigers threw 130 pitches in the game. The Pirates took 15 strikes, which is not bad. They swung at 22 pitches outside of the strike zone. None of those swings resulted in any of their nine hits. They were as punchless as ever, with all 9 hits being singles. This team needs to follow Ted Williams’ hitting rule. To hit, you swing at strikes and take balls. I don’t think they will ever learn. But hey, a win is a win. It was especially nice to see Skenes get the win. He is 5-8 now. He still has an excellent shot at being the first Cy Young Award winner with a losing record.

Key Moments Of The Game: It all boiled down to the bottom of the second and the top of the third. Ke’Bryan Hayes led off the bottom of the 2nd with a single. Jack (Who’s Ted Williams) Suwinski struck out on a ball around his ankles. Henry (I Don’t Know Him Either) Davis swung at the first pitch that was in the dirt. He did manage to fly out to deep center field. IKF walked on four straight pitches. Atta boy. Spenser Horwitz hit a little 68 MPH blooper down the line to score the first Pirate run. McCutchen walked on five pitches to load the bases. Bryan Reynolds hit an 81 MPH “liner”. It dropped in to score the last two runs. Those were the final runs the Pirates would score in the game. At the end of the 2nd, they led 3-0. The Tigers tried to break right back against Skenes. Parker Meadows opened the inning with a 102 MPH double down the right field line. Matt Vierling hit a dribbler down the 3rd base line and beat it out. It did not allow the runner to advance. Skenes bore down to get the next two batters. One popped out to shallow right. The next batter hit into a 3-6 force play. With runners on first and third, this brought up the always dangerous Gleyber Torres. Torres worked the count to 3-2. Skenes lit him up with an up-and-in 99 MPH fastball to end the inning. The Tigers never really threatened after that. The bottom of the 3rd was the key to a Pirate victory.

Next Game: Tonight, Tigers in Pittsburgh. Mitch Keller is going for the Pirates tonight. It was nice to see the pitching staff get back on track. We know the hitters are never going to do it. The pitching is the only strength of this team. It was disheartening to see them get knocked around by the lowly White Sox. I guess Peguero is never going to play. Why did they bring him up? There were plenty of other players they could have called up. Anybody can sit on the bench. You can easily see why player development is not a Pirate strong point.

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Pirates Morning Report: White Sox Get Their First Sweep Of The Season Easily.

Final Score: Pirates 2 White Sox 7

Why The Pirates Lost: Andrew Heaney had another bad start. On June 30th, Heaney pitched almost 7 innings of shutout ball against the Cardinals. His one start before that and his last 3 appearances have been horrific. In 4 games, he pitched 13 innings. He has given up 21 runs, all of them earned. He has given up 25 hits, including a whopping 9 home runs. At one time, the Heaney looked like he might be a trade chip. Now, he looks like he should be DFA. Another great pickup, Cherrington. The bullpen had a nice bounce back. They pitched 5 innings of 1-hit ball. It was way too late by then. The Pirate offense was just as bad. They only had 4 hits. They scored 2 runs, but 1 was from defensive indifference in the bottom of the 9th. They just had some awful at-bats led by Joey Bart and Oneil Cruz. Bart struck out on two called strikes and then swung at two pitches out of the strike zone. On his next at-bat, he was thrown 6 pitches, all out of the strike zone. He swung at 3 of them to strike out again. Cruz swung at 4 pitches in a row out of the strike zone. He then took a called 3rd strike to end the game. With the trade deadline coming up, you could call this a lame duck team. I just call them lame. Management again brought up a young player, Peguero, and has not played him for 3 games. He made a token appearance in the first game of the series. How does that help him? It most likely hinders his progress.

Key Moment Of The Game: The first inning, and you knew this game was over. Heaney got lit up for 4 runs. The first 5 batters, except for the one that walked, did not hit a ball under 99 MPH. He gave up 2 home runs. The last one went out at 107 MPH and carried 429 feet. The Pirates never really threatened to make a game of it. They only got 3 runners to scoring position for the game. For the third game in a row, they were blown out. The White Sox got their first 3 game sweep of the season. It is a sad state of affairs.

Next Game: Tonight, Tigers in Pittsburgh. We will see if Paul Skenes is engulfed in this starting pitching slump. The trade deadline can’t come fast enough. This team looks like they did at the start of the season. They have no interest in winning or playing baseball. It looks like we will have to endure another 7 to 10 days of this. Maybe these guys will get the shock of their lives and Cherrington won’t trade anybody. It would serve them right. It is about time Cherrington screwed over somebody besides the fans.

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Pirates Morning Report: Where Has All The Pitchers Gone? Who Will Stop The Scoring?

Final Score: Pirates 4 White Sox 10

Why The Pirates Lost: For the 2nd straight game, the Pirates gave up 10 runs. The Pirate offense did put 4 runs on the board. If the Pirates could have scored 4 runs in every game in June, they would have been 18-9. In last night’s game, the starter Mike Burrows did okay. He went 5 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits. He did not give up a hit in the first 4 innings. For the second straight night, the bullpen really stunk. Caleb Ferguson could only get 1 out; he gave up 4 runs on 4 hits. Isaac Mattson could only get 1 out; he gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk. Carmen Mlodzinski came in to clean up. In 2 and 1/3 innings, he gave up 2 runs on 4 hits with a walk. The Pirate offense did score 4 runs but was still inept. They were 3 for 15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners. The Pirates continue to be punchless. Only 3 of the 13 hits were for extra bases. The Brewers had 13 hits with 6 doubles. The first two games after the All-Star break could not have gone worse for the Pirates. Not only do they get blown out twice, but it is the White Sox that are doing it.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates had just taken the lead 3-0 going into the top of the 5th. Luis Robert Jr. got an infield single with one out. He went to second on a throwing error by Nick Gonzales. Roberts then stole 3rd base. Burrows struck out the next batter. It looked like Burrows might work out of the jam. Lenyn Sosa singled in Roberts. Josh Rojas followed that with a double and the White Sox were right back in it 3-2. The Pirates added a run in the bottom of the inning to make it 4-2. Caleb Ferguson came in to pitch the 6th. He quickly got the first out on one pitch. Then the fun began. In the next 11 pitches, he gave up a double and 3 singles, tying the game up 4-4. Other than the double, nothing was hit hard. They were just placed perfectly. Isaac Mattson came in with runners on 1st and 3rd. On the 7th pitch of the at-bat, he hit Sosa to load the bases. He struck out the next batter. Again, you thought that Mattson might be able to get out of this jam. With the count 0-2 he threw the ball right down the middle. Mike Tauchman ripped it 370 feet for a bases-clearing double, and the score was 7-4. Mattson gave up another single, and the White Sox had a 6-run inning. The game was over.

Next Game: This afternoon, White Sox in Pittsburgh. The White Sox will go for their first series sweep of the season. Another great stat to mark down for this season. Who knows what is going on with the pitching? In two games, they have given up 20 runs, all earned, on 23 hits and 11 walks. This is against the White Sox, no less. The thing that keeps the White Sox from being the worst-hitting team in baseball are the Pirates. Wow! I can’t think of anything else to write.

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Pirates Morning Report: Welcome Back Pirates

Final Score: Pirates 1 White Sox 10

Why The Pirates Lost: It was a blowout. In every phase of the game the Pirates stunk. Poor baserunning, weak hitting, lousy pitching, and lackluster fielding. When the game was still in doubt, Oneil Cruz made a baserunning blunder. He failed to tag up on a fly ball to left that Michael Taylor made a diving catch on. He would have scored the first run of the game for the Pirates. They only had 5 hits. They were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position. The last 20 batters of the game got 1 hit and 2 walks. The Triple P offense at its best. Bailey Falter gave up 4 runs on 6 hits. He walked one and gave up 2 home runs. Braxton Ashcraft gave up 2 runs on 2 hits. He walked 4 in just 1 inning. Yohan Ramirez gave up 4 runs on 2 hits. He walked 2. All told, the Pirates pitching gave up 11 hits and walked 7. Even though the Pirates weren’t charged with any errors, they were dropping and misplaying balls all night. The Pirates looked like they took 4 years off, not just 4 days. I think you would have seen better baseball if you watched a film of an old-timers game. Thank God they were playing the White Sox. It might have been 20-1.

Key Moment Of The Game: Bailey (I’ve Tried Everything) Falter had another bad first inning. He got the first outs of the game on just 8 pitches. He gave up a home run to Edgar Quero on a 3-1 pitch that was pretty well grooved. That was followed by a walk and a double that scored the 2nd run of the game. Luis Robert Jr. singled and the score was 3-0. The White Sox got 2 out lightning to score 3 runs. The Pirates cut it to 4-1. It would have been 4-2 if Cruz had not made his blunder. From that point on, the White Sox kept adding on thanks to the generosity of the Pirates’ pitchers. By the 7th inning stretch, it was 10-1 White Sox. It was a laughable return home for the hapless Pirates.

Next Game: Does there have to be? Yes, I’m afraid so. Tonight, White Sox in Pittsburgh. Mike Burrows goes for the Pirates, bringing with him the hopes of a fan base eager for a standout performance. The offense remains dormant, leaving many fans frustrated as they watched another lackluster game unfold. Please start Liover Peguero tonight. Why bring him up if you are not going to play him? He can’t do any worse than what’s out there. There’s a strong case to be made for giving him a chance to play. One run on five hits. One run on five hits. One run on five hits. The Pirates’ formula for winning baseball.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Trade Deadline

This article is not going to speculate on what the Pirates might do at the trade deadline. Who knows what this organization might do? Mitch Keller remains the big chip that the Pirates have to offer at the deadline. I am advocating that the Pirates clean house. They can do this without trading Mitch Keller. If they do trade Keller, then they must clean house. You would hope that the Pirates would get at least two very good bats for Keller. If that is the case, then they would be on the team. You would have to get rid of Brian Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes. IKF and Tommy Pham would be rentals for some team. I feel that those four players must be traded no matter what. The other player that I feel is a must trade is David Bednar. I feel there are only four players that can’t be traded: Paul Skenes, Oneil Cruz, Nick Gonzales, and, believe it or not, Henry Davis. That leaves 22 players that could go if the price is right. I feel Hayes, IKF, Pham, Reynolds, and Bednar must go. I do not think you will get much for any of the position players. Bednar should get you at least one solid major league hitter. I expect the return for the other position players to be much like what they got for Adam Frazier. They should get very good AAA players. The biggest plus of getting rid of these players is it will free up a lot of money. Despite the fact that Keller may give you the best return, I am not totally sure he should be traded. There is no question that right now he is the No. 2 starter on the team. We will see what teams are willing to give up to acquire him. You could move out Andrew Heaney. He won’t give you that big of a return. He will finally open up the spot for Bubba Chandler if he is gone. One thing is certain: this is a crucial trade deadline for the Pirates. It is one of the most important in about a decade. By the time August 1st gets here, the Pirates better have a whole new look. If they don’t, then it will sadly be the time to dump Paul Skenes this time next year. This is Cherrington’s last hurrah. He better make it a good one.

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Pirates Morning Report: Where I Was Wrong And Where I Was Right

Before I get into how accurate my thoughts were going into this season, there was news yesterday. The Pirates got rid of dead wood by trading Adam Frazier to the Royals. In return, they got 28-year-old Cam Devanney, a career minor league player. He has had a successful minor league career. This year, he is having a very good AAA season and is slugging over .500. If the Pirates get rid of more dead wood, he could be starting at shortstop. More on this tomorrow. Now let’s get to the topic. First, where I was wrong,

I thought Ji Hwan Bae might be an asset this year. He was very bad for just 2 games. As a result, the Pirates sent him down immediately. I don’t blame the Pirates for that decision. He was called up for a brief look but only got 1 hit in 11 at-bats. The whole experience seemed to have set him back. He usually posts very impressive AAA numbers. Not so this year. He has been a little better lately but is only slugging .397. In previous seasons, he has slugged over .500. I thought the starting rotation was being overrated, especially after Jared Jones was gone for the season. Despite having problems with the 5th starter, they are ranked the 5th best rotation at the All-Star break. The bullpen has found itself and pitched much better than I thought it would. I guess you could say I was wrong about the Pirate offense. I thought they would be bad, but I did not think they would be as bad as they are. I am surprised by how well the Pirates are playing defense. I thought, at best, the Pirate defense would stay the same. They finished right around 20th in defensive efficiency. This year, they are 2nd so far. Now, where I was right.

I was right that this team did not want to play for Derek Shelton. They were 12-26 under Shelton, and they looked worse doing it. It was not a sad day when he was let go. They quickly looked better under Don Kelly. Even with the 8-game losing streak, their winning percentage is .457. That’s a lot better than .316 under Shelton. I was right about the new Pirate additions being pretty much useless. Taking them in no particular order: Spencer Horwitz. Negative WAR, mainly because of a slash line of .232/.298/.329 for an OPS+ of 75. His fielding is slightly above average. Tommy Pham. Thanks to his recent surge, WAR is .9. His overall slash line is still mediocre at best, .250/.321/.346, giving him an OPS+ of 87. Another punchless Pirate. Surprisingly, he is having the best fielding season of his career. Adam Frazier. WAR is .2. Another below-average slash line, .255/.318/.336. Basically just an average fielder. He has been traded. Alexander Canario. Rinse and repeat. Slash line .222/.288/.329, OPS+ 72. Four acquired players all turning out to be incompetent clones. No power and do not get on base that much. Perfect offensive additions. We left off the list Emmanuel Valdez, who is out for the season. He performed like the others. However, he got to play first base for the first time in his major league career. Great thought process, Pirates. Andrew Heaney. He has had his moments. When the dust settles, he is a below-average starting pitcher. His Fielding Independent Pitching is 5.11. He is by far the worst of the starters. Of the 13 pitchers that have seen the most action, only Chase Shugart is worse. From the Pirates’ point of view, he did serve a purpose. He blocked Bubba Chandler from getting to the Major League level. Caleb Ferguson. By far their best signing. Cherrington, 1 for 7. Nice job. My other prediction that had nothing to do with the Pirates was about the Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees. I wrote the Dodgers would make the playoffs but not the World Series. I wrote that the Mets and Yankees would not make the playoffs. As of right now, both teams would make the playoffs. Their leads are small at this point. There is still a lot of baseball to be played. I still feel they will not make it. We will see what happens. I will look at the trade deadline tomorrow.

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Pirates Morning Report: The 97 Game Disaster.

When this season started, I was pessimistic. I became more pessimistic when the Pirates made their final roster moves. I thought this was going to be a season where we would eventually see some young players get an opportunity. Instead, all we saw was them still languishing in AAA. Even when a few of them got called up, they rarely played. The Pirate philosophy of player development seems to be that observation and stagnation are better than participation. At the season’s start, who would have thought that Bubba Chandler wouldn’t appear by the All-Star break? Similarly, who would have thought that Nick Yorke wouldn’t appear by then either? As we will see, it is not like there was very good performances at the Major League level. After 97 games, the Pirates’ record stands at 39-58. What is amazing is that certain parts of the Pirates are performing better than they have in about a decade. However, all of this is being nullified by an offense that is performing worse than any offense in a century. I have stated this many times before; Pirate management does nothing about it. The offensive woes of the Pirates are nothing new. In 2023, they were shut out 16 times. This put them 10th on the all-time list of being shut out. This current crop of hitless wonders has been shut out 12 times already. They are threatening to crack the top 5. Let’s dive in and take a closer look at this historically bad offense.

They are last in baseball in runs scored per game. They are tied for last in the comparison stat of OPS+. They are dead last in all of these offensive categories: home runs, doubles, RBIs, and slugging. This team has absolutely no power. The best of the worst is they get on base just a little better. Their on-base percentage is .300, putting them 27th in the league. According to WAR, their best position player is the left fielder, ranking 18th in the league. Their worst players are their 1st baseman and right fielder, coming in at 26th in the league. Everyone else is in between. Yet the Pirates have not replaced one player. They finally sent down Jared Triolo and his OPS+ of 46 in 160 plate appearances. Ben Cherrington gave him a ringing endorsement, saying he is part of the Pirate future. The Pirates have complete faith in him. I do too. I have total faith that he will never hit above .200. The big disappointments this season are Bryan Reynolds, Spence Horwitz, and Joey Bart. At the moment, they are the worst three players on the Pirates. That is saying something when a team has Henry Davis and Tommy Pham on it. With Pham’s recent hot streak, he is the 3rd best performer that the Pirates have. Oneil Cruz and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are the only ones that have had a better season, but not by much. There have been some positive surprises with the position players this year. Henry Davis has improved his defense significantly. At the very least, he should share the catching duties with Bart. Nick Gonzales is becoming a very unique Pirate. He is the only Pirate in the last 3 years who seems to be improving. He is making progress at the Major League level. His OPS+ has gone from 66 to 96 to 106 in 2025. This, despite missing close to 60 games because of an undiagnosed broken ankle. He still needs to improve his fielding. Some of that could be due to the ankle still being in recovery mode. Of the 13 position players that the Pirates have, only 3 should have a future with the Pirates. They are Cruz, Gonzales, and Davis. I thought I would never be saying this about Davis. The only borderline case is Joey Bart. All the rest should be moved out one way or the other. Now let’s get to the good part of this team.

Without a doubt, the most surprising thing about this team has been their defense. Their defensive efficiency rating is .717, which is second in all of baseball. This is the best defense the Pirates have had in over a decade. Combine that with a pitching staff that is ranked 6th overall in baseball. Their bullpen is ranked 5th and the rotation is ranked 5th. The rotation could be better if the Pirates ever did anything with the 5th starter. You would think that this should be a team that would be in the playoff hunt. After all, it is the old baseball saying that pitching and defense is what really wins games. This is what makes the offensive situation even more frustrating. If just a little bit had been done to strengthen this team offensively, they actually might be in contention. Will the Pirates finally move out what I call the dead wood: Reynolds, Hayes, Frazier, IKF, Horwitz, and Pham? I am all for giving Jack Suwinski one last shot. What have you got to lose at this point? If they get two powerful bats who can hit above the league average, they could start a run. Bring up Nick Yorke and you get a third improved bat. That does not seem like much, does it? It must be, though. The Pirate management team sure can’t seem to do it. Tomorrow, I am going to go to more pleasant times. I’ll revisit 1960. I’ll look at the season when Don Hoak helped lead the Pirates to their 3rd World Series title. I call it the season that time forgot.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Pitchers, Of Course, Snap The Losing Streak.

Final Score: Pirates 2 Twins 1

Why The Pirates Won: Mitch Keller went 6 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits and did not walk anyone. The bullpen of Ferguson, Santana, and Bednar nailed down the last 3 innings, holding the Twins scoreless on 3 hits. The bullpen did not walk a batter either. This performance was just good enough to edge the Twins 2-1. Tommy Pham hit a solo home run in the top of the 2nd for the first Pirate run. They barely scratched out a run in the top of the 9th to win the game. The losing streak ends at 8. It is nice to get a win with the next game 4 days away. The Pirates will start a 6-game home stand on Friday. Isiah Kiner-Falefa led the way with 4 hits. It was the Pirate pitching staff that won this one. I really don’t think the offense will ever get better in its current form. Can’t wait to see what happens at the trade deadline.

Key Moments Of The Game: Keller danced through some raindrops in the early going. He gave up a leadoff double in the 2nd. He held the Twins in check after that. He gave up a single and a double in the bottom of the third to allow his only run. After the double, he retired 11 of the next 12 batters. In the bottom of the 8th, Dennis Santana gave up 2 singles in a row after one was out. On a little dribbler out in front of the plate, Henry Davis made a nice play to get the lead runner at third. Santana got the next batter to fly out to center field to end the inning. As usual, the Pirates got some help to score the go-ahead run in the 9th. After one out, Ke’Bryan Hayes singled to centerfield. Oneil Cruz pinch-hit for Henry Davis. Cruz hit a little dribbler just to the left of the pitcher. He botched the play, and everybody was safe. IKF singled to center to load the bases. Spencer (There Is No O In My Name) Horwitz was the next batter. He hit a sharp ground ball to the left of second baseman Brooks Lee. He made an outstanding diving stop. He was thinking of trying to get a double play. With Horwitz running, it had a good chance of success. It became a moot point when he could not get the ball out of his glove. He was turned and threw Horwitz out at first. The Pirates had their cherished 2nd run. Bednar saved it in the 9th. He gave up a leadoff single. He struck out the next 2 batters on two great curveballs. He got the last batter to ground out, and the losing streak was over.

Next Game: Friday night, White Sox in Pittsburgh. Over the All-Star break, I will take a look at this disastrous season. I will see what I said about this team in late March. I will see where I was right and where I was wrong. I will go back in time to 1960 and look at Don Hoak. He had the season that I say time forgot. Finally, we will look at what the next 65 games might bring. At least, I will look at what I hope they will bring.