Final Score: Pirates 2 Brewers 1
Why The Pirates Won: This was the kind of game you would expect from two of the worst run-producing teams in the league. Mitch Keller and former Pirate pitcher Quinn Priester matched each other almost pitch for pitch over the first 6 innings. Keller gave up 1 run on 7 hits. He struck out 7, walking none. Priester gave up 1 run on 6 hits. He struck out 7 and walked one. It was the Brewers’ bullpen that finally cracked in the crucial 7th inning. Each offense put a lot of traffic on the base paths but produced little from it. The Brewers collected 11 hits but scored only 1 run. The Pirates had 9 hits to go along with one walk. They were able to manage a 2nd run, which was the difference in the ballgame.
Key Moments Of The Game: The 7th turned out to be the crucial inning of the game. Caleb Ferguson came in to pitch in relief of Keller. He gave up two weakly hit singles to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. On another weak contact, Jake Bauers grounded into a force out at second. Ferguson hit Joey Ortiz on a 1-2 pitch to load the bases. The Pirates had to bring the infield in. Brice Turang hit a ground ball just to the left of Adam Frazier. He made a nice stop, spun around, and threw a perfect strike to Henry Davis to get the force at home. Don Kelly decided to bring in Chase Shugart to face Jackson Chourio. Shugart fell behind 2 balls and no strikes. On a 91 MPH cutter right down the middle, Chourio hit a fly ball. It traveled 302 ft. to Bryan Reynolds. The Pirates were fortunate that he did not get all of it. With one out in the bottom of the 7th, Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled to left field. Henry Davis lined out to 3rd for the 2nd out. IKF was balked to 2nd base. Lefty Tyler Alexander was pitching for the Brewers. Oneil Cruz has not done well against lefties so far this year. This time, he ripped a low middle-in sweeper 114 MPH into the right center field gap to easily score IKF. Cruz legged it into third for his first triple of the season. Dennis Santana and David Bednar protected the lead. Bednar put runners on first and second with one out in the top of the 9th. He managed to get Turang to hit into a game-ending double play. The Pirates pulled one out 2-1.
Next Game: This afternoon, Brewers in Pittsburgh. No matter what happens today, the Pirates will have a winning home stand. It would be nice to see them go 5-2. Bailey Falter will go for the Pirates today. He has been one of their most consistent pitchers this year. The Pirates head out west this week to play the Diamondbacks and the Padres. This will be a tough road to hoe. Winning this one could give them a little momentum. Oneil Cruz looks like he may be ready to go on an offensive run. It would be nice to see someone do it.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 