Tag: Another improble win

Final Score: Pirates 6 A’s 5

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates survived a horrible 1st inning, giving up 4 runs on just 2 hits. Bryan Reynolds hit 2 home runs, driving in 3 runs to top off a 4 for 5 night. His second home run came with 2 outs in the top of the 7th to tie the game at 5-5. In the top of the 9th, the slumping Brandon Lowe, with a .224 on-base percentage over the last 15 games, lined a home run way over the right field fence to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead. After the shaky first inning, where he walked the bases loaded, Mitch Keller pitched a decent 5 and 1/3 innings. He gave up one more run on a home run. After the 1st, he gave up 3 hits, striking out 7 and just walking one. The bullpen, shaky as ever, somehow, someway did not give up any runs, enabling the Pirates to eke out an unexpected 6-5 win.

Key Moments Of The Game: Bryan Reynolds and Brandon Lowe hit the big home runs accounting for 4 of the Pirates’ 6 runs. Needless to say, it was the Pirates’ bullpen that had the key moments. In the top of the 7th, the A’s opened the inning with a double. Evan Sisk struck out Nick Kurtz. The Pirates decided to bring in Yohan (How Many Outs Are There) Ramirez. He promptly wild-pitched the runner to third. Alika Williams did not go on contact with one out and did not score on a ground out to the shortstop. One intentional walk later, Jacob Wilson grounded into a force out to end the inning. Mason Williams came in to pitch the 8th and went strikeout, walk, strikeout, and strikeout. The bottom of the 9th got really scary. Gregory Soto got the first out with a strikeout. The A’s got two singles in a row to put runners on 1st and 2nd. This brought up Tyler Soderstrom. He almost got hit by the first two pitches. The third pitch was even inside to make the count 3-0. He took the next 3 pitches for strikes. He challenged one, but they were all strikes. First and second with one out in the bottom of the 9th and he does not swing at 3 straight pitches in the strike zone. Right away, Ben Cherington thought he might be a good acquisition for the Pirates. Jacob Wilson swung at a pitch way high and outside on an 0-2 count and lined it right to Jake Mangum to end the game. The Pirates are back to .500.

Next Game: Tonight, A’s in Sacramento. This will be the rubber match of the series. After five innings last night that looked like it would be impossible. Braxton Ashcraft will go for the Pirates. He has had two shaky starts in a row. Keller, after that bad first inning, kept the A’s basically in check. Ashcraft needs to do the same thing, which is no small task. The Pirates have won only three of their last eleven games. All three wins were by one run, and two were big comeback wins, coming back from five and four run deficits. The Pirates could have easily lost eleven in a row. If this team ever starts pitching again and somehow makes the playoffs, this stretch of games will be the ones to remember.