The Toronto Blue Jays bats remained smoking hot to win game four 8-2. They scored 8 runs on 11 hits to go along with 4 walks. The Mariners walked in a run in the top of the third to make the score 3-1. In the bottom of the 6th the Blue Jays tried to help them out. After getting the first two out they walked the next two batters. Eugenio Suarez singled to right driving in a run. Josh Naylor committed the cardinal sin of getting thrown out at 3rd with 2 outs. This is even worse when you are behind 5-2 at the time. The Mariners never threatened to make a game of it after that. Speaking of even worse the Milwaukee Brewers offense continued its playoff slumber. They could not even hit the beleaguered Dodger bullpen. They scored only one run for the 3rd consecutive game to fall behind 3 games to none. Unless there is the Red Sox miracle it looks like the Dodgers are headed to the World Series for the 2nd year in a row. Damn! Both series resume tonight with Mariners-Blue Jays leading off. The Dodgers could clinch tonight. Let’s hope the Brewers have some fight left in them.
Pirates Morning Report: Blue Jays Offense Explodes Again
The Blue Jays scored double-digit runs for the third time in the postseason to get back into the series, showcasing their formidable offensive prowess. My philosophy about a playoff series is that the even-numbered games are the most significant games. Someone has to be leading the series, and in this case, it is the Mariners, 2 games to 1. Does it matter how they got there? To quote “the kid” from Moneyball, “It does not.” The Blue Jays delivered a spectacular performance in this particular game, which featured a total of 8 home runs, 5 of which came from their bats. They scored an impressive 13 runs on 18 hits, complemented by 3 walks, a clear indicator of their offensive rhythm and ability to capitalize on pitching mistakes. After just 6 innings, it became apparent that this game was over, reflecting the bats’ intense energy. My advice to the playoff teams goes just one step further: don’t hit a home run anytime in the 1st inning. This year, it has proven to be a bad omen. Is this just a one-game thing for the Blue Jays, reminiscent of the Phillies in the divisional series, or can they sustain this momentum moving forward? Only time will tell as the playoff narrative unfolds. One thing is for sure: the pressure has ramped up significantly on the Mariners, who find themselves in a position where they need to respond effectively to maintain their series lead. They have responded well in the past under such circumstances and will need to do so one more time if they are to avoid a major shift in momentum. Meanwhile, the Dodgers and the Brewers play today, with the Brewers mirroring the Blue Jays’ plight in the same must-win situation as they look to stay alive in their own series. If the Brewers can pull off a victory, the Dodgers will face a similar challenge, with the pressure amping up just a little more against a determined opponent. As the drama unfolds, things could get particularly interesting in both of these series, reinforcing the unpredictable nature of playoff baseball. The playoffs continue to be great, filled with excitement and stories that captivate fans across the league.
Pirates Morning Report: Starting Pitching Is Back
Going into the postseason, the big question mark for the Dodgers was their bullpen. It looked like it might be their Achilles’ heel. The Dodgers seem to have figured out the problem: just do not use the bullpen. Blake Snell went 8 innings, giving up just one hit in game one. Last night, Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a complete game. He gave up a leadoff home run and only 2 more hits the rest of the way. The last hit the Brewers got was in the bottom of the 4th. The last 17 batters were all retired, with the exception of one walk. In 17 innings, the starting pitching of the Dodgers has given up 1 run and 4 hits. It was the bottom half of the Dodger batting order that did most of the damage. They hit 2 home runs and drove in 4 of the 5 runs. The Dodgers now have a 2-0 lead in the series as they head back to L.A. For the first time in Championship Series history, the visiting team has won the first two games in both leagues. The sweep is in play in both series. Tonight, the Mariners host the Blue Jays. Tomorrow night, the Dodgers will host the Brewers. Both No. 1 seeds have to win the next game, or these series are essentially over. I don’t see a Red Sox miracle happening here. However, if either or both can pull out game 3, then the series will take on a whole different vibe. There is no question the Dodgers have been the most impressive team so far. They just seemed to be coasting during much of the regular season. Everyone expected them to run away with the division and win over 100 games. Instead, they barely won over 90 and had to play a wild card round. They had many pitchers on the shelf with injuries during the season. Oddly, this seems to have given them an advantage. Many members of the staff are well-rested and strong because of not pitching that much during the season. After such an exciting first two rounds of the playoffs, it is hard to believe that the Brewers and the Blue Jays could be swept. I have a feeling this will not happen, but it would not be shocking if it does. The Blue Jays will be the first to try to get back in the series. Here is my only advice to both teams that are down 2 games to none: Don’t lead off the game with a home run. After that, everything seems to go downhill from there. Lead off trying to bunt for a base hit. Let’s hope they do.
Pirates Morning Report: Mariners Really Shutdown Blue Jays
The Seattle Mariners won game one of the ALCS by shutting down the hottest offense in the playoffs in a big way. George Springer hit the first pitch he saw into the right field seats to lead off the bottom of the 1st. The Blue Jays got 1 hit to go with 3 walks the rest of the game. The game stayed 1-0 until the top of the 6th inning. Kevin Gausman was cruising along, throwing a 2-hit shutout through 5 innings. He got the first two outs in the top of the 6th. Cal Raleigh took a 2-2 splitter just above the knees and blasted it 420 feet to tie the game 1-1. Gausman walked the next batter on 5 pitches. He had thrown just 76 pitches and was removed from the game. Sorry, this is not an elimination game. This is also a 7-game series. The more you allow a team to see your bullpen, the more likely they are to start hitting them. You are now turning around Jorge Polanco to bat right-handed. His slash line right-handed is .305/.345/.543. Batting left-handed, it is .254/.321/.481. I don’t know why you would bring in the left-hander, let alone take out Gausman. Brendon Little wild-pitched the runner to second base. Polanco singled to left field to make the score 2-1. A big 2-out lightning inning for the Mariners. Polanco drove in the insurance run in the top of the 8th batting left-handed, so he is no slouch from that side. However, Gausman to me was showing no signs of fatigue. The Blue Jays’ bats were pretty much dead for this game, but you never know if the score remained tied at 1-1. The Blue Jays still have a good process going on, striking out only 4 times for the game. I still like the Blue Jays to win the series, but their offense has to come alive today. On the Mariners’ side of the ledger, even though they won, there are some areas of concern. Randy Arozarena continues to struggle at the plate. He is 4 for 27 in the playoffs. Eugenio SuĂ¡rez is even worse, going 3 for 25. If these two don’t get going soon, it would seem the Mariners will not be able to win this series.
The Dodgers and the Brewers play game one tonight in Milwaukee. The Dodgers have yet to play an elimination game so far this postseason. I think it is essential for the Brewers to set the Dodgers back on their heels tonight. The Brewers know how to beat the Dodgers, as they won all 6 games they played during the regular season. I do not believe that really affects a team during the playoffs, but it would help if the Brewers kept the momentum going tonight. It should be just another 2 great games tonight in what has been a great postseason.
Pirates Morning Report: Mariners, Brewers Do It, Championship Series Begins.
The Brewers and the Mariners advanced to their respective Championship Series. The Mariners took a record-breaking 15 innings to do it. The Brewers did it in un-Brewer-like fashion, hitting 3 solo home runs to defeat the Cubs 3-1. The Cubs’ offense could not produce in another elimination game. In the last 6 innings, the Cubs had 1 hit. In 8 playoff games, the Cubs scored over 3 runs twice. The Mariners and the Tigers played a 15-inning marathon that showed both teams squandering chances to win the game. The Tigers’ best chance to take the lead came in the top of the 12th. After two singles and a sacrifice bunt, the Tigers had 2nd and 3rd and one out. Javier Baez broke his bat and hit a weak grounder to third. The runner was thrown out at the plate. Seattle intentionally walked the red-hot Kerry Carpenter to load the bases. This time, the intentional walk worked. Gleyber Torres flied out to right field to end the inning. In the bottom of the 12th, the Mariners got the first two runners on base with a walk and a hit by pitch. That inning quickly ended with a fly out and a double play. The bottom of the 13th was an instant replay for the Mariners. Two walks started that inning. A strikeout and a double play ended the inning. A one-out double was stranded by the Tigers in the top of the 14th. Seattle won it in the bottom of the 15th on a one-out single by Jorge Polanco with the bases loaded off of Tommy Kahnle, the 8th Tiger pitcher. So far in this playoff season, we have had 5 elimination games. This time last year, there were zero. We are now down to four.
At the beginning of the season, I said the Dodgers would not make it to the World Series. They have not made it yet, but they are still kicking. Things seem to be going their way even. All of a sudden, they have picked up a new ace in the hole with the resurgence of pitcher Roki Sasaki. One of the most sought-after free agents in 2024, he got off to a horrible start and then was put on the shelf by injury. He was sent down to the minors, where his mechanics were fixed. He has been lights out coming out of the bullpen. The bullpen was one of the weakest areas for the Dodgers. They still have the shakiest bullpen of the final four, but they have a go-to guy now in high-leverage and closing situations. Each team has something going for it as we head into the next round. The Blue Jays are the only team that has not had their offense shut down. The Mariners have a playoff-hardened bullpen, and their star players are performing. The Dodgers’ starting pitching, with the exception of one game, has been lights out, and the bullpen just got the aforementioned shot in the arm. The Brewers are simply the best overall team in baseball. These playoffs have not disappointed so far, and I expect the Championship Series to feature hard-fought games. I expect each series to go at least six games. I will be rooting for the Brewers, and I think they can win. They will probably relish the underdog role. I do not know if the Mariners are going to be able to stop the Blue Jays’ offense. We all know offense in baseball can be a sometime thing and can go away in an instant. They look really good right now, and until they are actually shut down, I think the offense will continue to roll. I like the Blue Jays in another close, hard-fought series. Another year where all the playoff worriers can breathe a big sigh of relief. In the American League, we have the top two seeds going at it. In the National League, we have the 1 and 3 seeds in the final two. No 6th seed is going to the World Series this year. It looks like this format is here to stay.
Pirates Morning Report: On To The Division Series
On a historic day in baseball, the Yankees, Tigers, and Cubs advanced to the next round of the baseball playoffs. This was the first wild card round that saw 3 series go 3 games and 3 of the 4 home teams win. None of the 3 games were all that close. The Padres had the best chance to win with a 9th inning threat. A horrible called third strike on Xander Bogaerts really hurt the Padres’ chances. That and the fact that Fernando Tatis Jr. had an awful day at the plate. He must have gone into the game thinking he would swing at everything. It did not work. He saw 14 pitches. He swung at 8 of them out of the strike zone. He went 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. The Padres could not hit. They went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position. They scored 5 runs in the 3 games. At least they could field. The Guardians and Red Sox could not hit or field. Both teams had balls go off gloves and out of hands. Yankees and Tigers won convincingly 4-0 and 6-3, respectively. Needless to say, all of the teams I wanted to win lost. I have a very unhappy crew out in San Diego with the Padres’ poor showing. On to the next round.
My feeling is that the home teams will win all of the division series. I think the bullpens of the Yankees and the Dodgers will catch up with them. The Brewers will prove that small ball can work in the playoffs. The Mariners will continue to play great baseball as they did down the stretch. These series are 5 games. Still, there is not a lot of room for error for all teams involved. The Cubs’ offense had better perk up. They were not that much better than the Padres, scoring 6 runs during the 3 games. This will not work against the Brewers. The 4 visiting teams have already experienced the playoff pressure grinder. Will this help them or wear them down? Will the layoff hurt or help the home teams. I am sure the debate will go on about that. We will see what happens during the next 7 days. So far, the playoffs have not disappointed. Another great week of baseball should be coming up. It all begins tomorrow with all 8 teams playing. That will not happen again until Wednesday. We should have a better feel for who is going to win this round by then.
Pirates Morning Report: The Playoffs
The Tigers and the Guardians opened the playoffs with a classic nail biter. Tarik Skubal was brilliant, going 7 and 2/3 innings, giving up just one unlucky run and 3 hits. He struck out 14 and walked 3. The only odd thing he did was walk Austen Hedges twice. Hedges is batting .161 for the season. In the bottom of the 4th, the Indians never got a ball out of the infield but were able to scratch out a run. The Indians had their chance in the bottom of the 9th. Jose Ramirez hit a sharp ground ball up the middle that Javier Baez made a great play on. He tried to make a throw from his knees. It one-hopped to the first baseman, who could not make the scoop, and the ball went down the right field line. Ramirez made it all the way to third with no one out. Will Vest got the next batter to strike out. The next batter hit a little tapper back to the mound. Ramirez was caught in a rundown, and quickly there were two outs. The last batter popped out, and the Tigers escaped with the win in the first game of the 3-game series. The good news for the Guardians: Tarik Skubal cannot pitch every game.
The second game of the day saw the Cubs beat the Padres 3-1. Even though it was low-scoring, there was no dominant pitching performance here. The Padres could not get a runner in from 3rd base with less than 2 outs. In the second inning, back-to-back doubles by Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts gave the Padres a 1-0 lead. A throwing error allowed Bogaerts to go all the way around to third with no one out. The Padres could not get him in. In the top of the 4th, the Padres had 1st and 3rd with one out and could not get the run in. After a one-out single in the 5th, the Padres went Pirates mode with 14 batters in a row making outs. In the bottom of the 5th, the Cubs went back-to-back long balls to take a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the 8th, the Cubs went small ball to get an insurance run. Single, sacrifice bunt, intentional walk, wild pitch, and sacrifice fly made the score 3-1. The Cubs won one for the home team.
In the early evening game, the Red Sox defeated the Yankees 3-1. Garret Crochet mowed down the Yankees for 7 and 2/3 innings. He gave up a solo home run and 3 other hits. He struck out 11 and walked none. He threw 117 pitches. Max Fried pitched just as well, going 6 and 1/3 innings, giving up 4 hits and 0 runs. Fried got the first out in the 6th inning. He had thrown 102 pitches. Aaron Boone decided to take him out, and the Yankee bullpen imploded again. Luke Weaver did not get anybody out. He walked the first batter he faced. He gave up a double and a single, giving the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. David Bednar came in the top of the 9th and showed that he is not used to pitching in meaningful games. After getting the first two outs, he gave up a single and a double to give the Red Sox a 3-1 lead. The bottom of the ninth increased the Yankee frustration. Aroldis Chapman gave up 3 hits to load the bases with no outs. Ten of the next thirteen pitches he threw were 100 MPH or more. This resulted in a strikeout, a shallow fly ball to right field, and a strikeout. The Red Sox pulled out the first game. They used just two pitchers. In defeat, the Yankees used 6 pitchers. It should be another great game today.
In the final game of the day, the Dodgers lit up the Reds for 5 home runs en route to a 10-5 victory. Blake Snell pitched a solid 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits. The Dodger bullpen ran into control issues, which allowed the Reds to make the game interesting. The Reds started the top of the 8th with a single. After getting one out, the Dodgers’ pitchers walked 3 straight batters. Another single and a walk made the score 10-5, with the bases still loaded and only one out. A key hit here would have put the Reds right back in the game. Tyler Stephenson struck out in an 11-pitch at-bat. Unfortunately, he swung at the last 3 pitches that were all out of the strike zone. Ke’Bryan Hayes, showing why he was no big loss to the Pirates, popped out to end the inning. The Reds did not really threaten in the 9th.
The first day of the wild card round went pretty much as expected. The first three games were tight, well-pitched, and well-played ball games. The Guardians lost because they were completely dominated by Tarik Skubal. They were fortunate to get the run that they did. They had a chance in the bottom of the 9th but could not get a run home with nobody out and a runner on third. This was the downfall of both the Padres and the Yankees: a failure to score with a runner on third and less than 2 outs. The Yankees loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9th with no outs and came up empty. It is rinse and repeat today as the teams play in the same order as yesterday. I feel we will see some wins from the teams that are down. I think there will be two elimination games on Thursday. Whatever happens, it should be a very good day of baseball again.
Pirates Morning Report: Making All The Wrong Personnel Decisions.
Many say that the Pirates are bad at developing position players. They point to the many failures over the past 2 to 3 years. I believe the Pirates make poor decisions. They choose the wrong ways to handle and play their players. I do not think I would classify this as bad coaching either. That is not to say that the Pirate coaching staff is doing a good job. Coaching is harder if a player is not put in the position he should be playing. Players can only do what an organization asks them to do. In other words, the Pirate management team are these players’ bosses. It is these decision makers that should no longer be around when this season is over. I am going to go down a list of players whom I think were handled poorly. In other words, the Pirate organization did not put them in the best position to succeed. In one final example, I will show that the Pirates are just petty and mean-spirited.
Let’s start with Oneil Cruz. He has had the most disappointing season of any Pirate and that is saying something. Oneil Cruz was coming off a horrific broken ankle leg going into the 2024 season. Going into that season the Pirates should have made the decision right then to move him to the outfield. Outfield is much less stressful on the lower body. This was a player who was having problems playing shortstop even before he broke his leg. When the Pirates finally did put him in the outfield at the end of 2024 they put him in the wrong position. They should have put him in right field. Why would you put a player with defensive issues in one of the most important defensive positions on the field. The Padres put Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field and he thrived. Despite the mishandling Cruz had a decent year at the plate. He was 15 % better at the plate than your average major league hitter with an OPS+ of 115. He started this year in centerfield and has generally struggled. He got off to a decent start at the plate until the Pirates made another bad move. They decided to bat him lead off. Essentially he has not been the same since. His OPS+ this year is 91. If the Pirates ever wake up which is unlikely they will move him to right field. They did the same thing with Jack Suwinski, putting him in the lead off spot last year. They tried to make both players into Kyle Schwarber. They did not have enough sense to realize there will only be one Kyle Schwarber. That is how special he is. The other disappointing player is Henry Davis. Davis looks terrible at the plate. I look him up on You Tube. He was one of the best college hitters in the country when he played for Louisville. When he hit at Louisville there were 2 distinct differences in his batting stance. His stance was more open than it is now by about 6 inches. His stance was wider than what it is now. You would think someone would just tell him to go back to that. He could not do any worse. Do the Pirates know there is such a thing as You Tube?
The Pirates make even worse decisions when they bring someone up from the minors. The Pirates’ bats have not performed well. If a player is called up and he is swinging a hot bat in AAA, you should put him in the lineup. That’s what you would think. It never happened. Nick Solak was hitting over .350 and had an OBP of well over .400 when he was called up on May 16th. He was sent back down on June 3rd. The Pirates played 17 games in that span. He played in 4 games. He has not been heard from since, even though his current slash line is .328/.411/.494. I know he is 30 years old, but come on, give him a legitimate shot. What have you got to lose? Matt Gorski was up for 20 games; he played in 15 games, but one he did not bat in. In another game, he batted once. He only had 3 or more at-bats in 8 games. Liover Peguero was brought up earlier this year on May 2. The Pirates played 9 games. He appeared in 4 games, getting to bat 9 times. Billy Cook was up for a brief time and went 2 for 6, never to be seen again. Cam Devanney is getting playing time; however, he played most of the year at shortstop at AAA. The Pirates put him at 3rd base. Nick York played 6 games at 1st base out of the 103 games he played for Indianapolis. He has been at first base 6 out of the 13 games he has played for the Pirates. I do not know how much this affects a player’s hitting. However, playing young players at positions that are not their main positions can’t help. Another thing that does not help a player develop is not letting him face the same-side pitcher. Especially this time of year, the Pirates, have nothing to play for. Not allowing Oneil Cruz, Jack Suwinski, and Spencer Horwitz to hit against left-handed pitching about 90% of the time is not helping these players at all. Oneil Cruz, before the Pirates messed him up, was hitting left-handed pitching well in the last half of 2024. How can you expect players to improve and get better if you never put them in a position to get better? You would think the Pirate organization would want their young players to succeed. Maybe it just seems like they don’t.
Then there is the case of Tommy Pham. Pham was our “big” free-agent signing. He got off to a horrible start. He was fitted with some special contacts because of some strange corneal condition he has. Once he could see, he went on a six-week tear. He was one of the best hitters in baseball at the trade deadline. The other appealing factor about Pham is he has great playoff numbers. He has had 136 plate appearances in the playoffs with a slash line of .315/.331/.492. He has hit 6 homers and driven in 12 runs during the postseason. It is hard to believe that there was not one of the contenders that was interested in him. Then on the last weekend where a player could be eligible for the playoffs, the Pirates waived Isiah Kiner-Falefa. He was picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays. IKF is headed for the playoffs. The Pirates could have done the same thing with Tommy Pham. Instead, they pretty much said you’re not playing in the postseason. I do not think this went unnoticed by Mr. Pham. Since that weekend, Pham has a slash line of .145/.277/.255. The Pirates were fine getting nothing for IKF. Now he has a legitimate chance of playing in the World Series. In my view, the Pirates are telling Pham, “screw you, buddy,” for having such a bad opening 2 and a half months of the season. It shows that the Pirates are being run by very small people. Let’s hope they are not around by October 1.
We have only 9 games to go. Three at home and then 6 on the road. Don’t expect to see much improvement down this stretch. Ninety-plus losses seem like a given. Hopefully, the Pirates will find someone to manage and develop players. With just an average offense, this team should be able to make the playoffs. That, to me, is not a tall order. It is just that this regime is so incompetent. They will have the worst offense in baseball this year by a wide margin. Somebody please find some bats. We have the pitching staff. I feel there will be hope if there is a proper house cleaning at the end of the season. With this owner I am not too sure this will happen.
Pirates Morning Report: The Blake Snell Signing, High Risk But What Kind Of Reward.
The Dodgers signed Blake Snell to a 5 year contract that will pay him about 36 million a year for the next 5 years. Blake Snell was a high risk signing. He has played in the majors for 9 seasons. In only 2 of those seasons has he pitched in over 30 games. He has had 2 outstanding seasons which has netted him 2 Cy Young awards. Besides not coming to the post all that often his overall numbers are not that impressive. His career OPS+, the comparison stat where 100 is league average, is 128. Simply put, over the past 9 years he has pitched better than 28% of major league pitchers. Max Fried of the Braves is a free agent also this year. His career OPS+ over 8 years is 140. He has had his share of injuries, even more so than Snell. He has averaged 21 starts per year whereas Snell has averaged close to 24 starts. Snell’s biggest problem is his control. Even his Cy Young year with the Padres he averaged 5 walks per 9 innings. Until Snell threw his no hitter this year where he went 9 innings, he had never had a complete game. Let that one sink in for a while. Naturally when the Dodgers signed Snell all of the media was moaning and complaining that the system is broken, blah blah blah. The idea that only about 5 or 6 teams could afford Snell is ridiculous. Even the Pirates could afford Snell even though they would never admit it. However, what teams like the Pirates cannot do is take the risk of Snell having a mediocre year which he did for 3 of those 9 years. They also cannot take the risk of him taking the mound only 24 times or less which he did 5 out of 9 seasons. The Dodgers can take that risk and are taking that risk. In my view it is a big risk. The Dodgers have one of the strongest stables of starting pitching in all of baseball. The question will be how many of them will be able to come to the post. Not many did last year for various reasons. Despite all of this the Dodgers did manage to win the World Series. They still have the big three, Betts, Ohtani, and Freeman, who combined for 15 WAR last year. The starting 9 for the Pirates had a combined WAR of 8. This was not a player that the Pirates needed to or should have signed. It is obvious they need position players. Even for the Dodgers the Blake Snell signing is a burden for their payroll. It is very likely a signing that they will regret.
Pirates Morning Report: .500 Road Trip Locked UP
Final Score: Pirates 6 Astros 2
Why The Pirates Won: For two days in a row it was the .200 club that contributed mightily to this win. It is not often you win a game when your 3-4 hitters in the lineup go 1 for 10 and strikeout 7 times. Jared Triolo and Michael Taylor went 2 for 7, with 1 walk, driving in 3 runs. Barry Falter pitched a nice 5 and 1/3 innings coming back from the IL. He gave up 1 earned run on 6hits, walking no one. Dennis Santana came in the bottom of the 6th to snuff out the rally and pitched a scoreless 7th inning. In his last 7 games he has 9 and 2/3 innings and has not given up a run, while striking out 16 batters. Whether it is the change of scenery, or he and the Pirates found something, he has been lights out over his last 10-11 appearances. Glad I was wrong about him. Kyle Nicolas and Hunter Stratton finished up. Even though they had some issues, the Astros failed to score any runs and the Pirates had pretty much of a stress-free win.
The Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the sixth there were two out, nobody on and Jared Triolo was behind in the count 0-2. Over the next 6 pitches Triolo battled to get a walk. Michael Taylor for the second straight day hit a big 2 out home run to make the score 5-1 Pittsburgh, which gave the Pirates a very nice cushion. The Astros did get a run in the bottom of the inning but never had a major threat going for the rest of the day. The Pirates got the final run on a bases loaded walk to Andrew McCutchen to clinch the series win.
Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Houston. The Pirates will start recently acquired Jake Woodford. He has had an up and down career. Let’s hope he has an up night so the Pirates have a shot at getting the sweep. The Pirates made modest noise at the deadline, which should help the team some. I will discuss that more when the Pirates make their final roster moves. Right now, just basking in the glory of a 3-game road winning streak, against some pretty good competition.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 