Final Score: Pirates 2 Cardinals 1
Why The Pirates Won: Both teams’ offenses were pretty much nonexistent. The difference was the Cardinals gave the Pirates one of their runs. Pirate pitching was dominant again. Carmen Mlodzinski had command issues that the Cardinals failed to take advantage of. The bullpen in the last 6 innings only gave up one hit. Bubba Chandler had another excellent 4-inning outing. He gave up 1 hit and walked one. He managed to get his first major league win. Isaac Mattson had one of the most effective innings of the year. He threw 8 pitches, 7 of which were strikes, to get 3 quick outs in the 8th. Dennis Santana walked a batter with 2 outs in the 9th. The game ended on a weird little line drive. It took a crazy hop. Nick Gonzales had to barehand it to throw out the batter. The Pirate offense only had 3 hits. The AAA boys went 0 for 6 with 2 walks. Seven of the nine starters did not get a hit. Somehow, the Pirates pulled out the win. They are now 2-1 on the road trip.
Key Moments Of The Game: Mlodzinski had given up a run on 2 hits and 2 walks through 2 innings. The Cardinals ran into an out in the 2nd, or they might have scored more. He started the 3rd by striking out Nathan Church. He walked his third batter of the game. Ivan Herrera singled to right, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Mlodzinski struck out Alec Burleson on 5 pitches. It was the out of the game. He finished the inning by striking out Willson Contreras. With the play he made at first base in the 6th inning, the Cardinals probably wish he had started serving his suspension. Going into the top of the 6th, the Pirates had gotten only one hit off Sonny Gray. IKF had the hit and made it 2 with a line drive double. Jared Triolo walked. Spencer Horwitz hit a ground ball right to Contreras. It looked like he was about to start a 3-6-3 double play. With the lead-footed Horwitz running, it should have been a sure thing. Suddenly, Contreras changed his mind. He tried to flip the ball to Sonny Gray, who was not even looking at him. He was expecting a throw from 2nd base. Everybody was safe, and the Pirates had the bases loaded. After a force out at the plate, Tommy Pham drilled the first pitch up the middle for a single. He drove in 2 runs with the hit. If the double play is performed, the Pirates probably don’t score at all. Hopefully, the Cardinals don’t miss the playoffs by one game.
Next Game: This afternoon, the Cardinals in St. Louis. It looks like Braxton Ashcraft will be going for the Pirates today. The Pirates could use a win this afternoon. They will be going up against three teams that are most likely playoff-bound: the Red Sox in Boston and the Dodgers and Brewers at home. The Pirates will get to see what they are made of these next two weeks. Will they be competitive? After all, that is what Derek Shelton wanted. Who really cares about winning? Let’s just hope we can give them a game.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 