Tag: Going long ball

Final Score: Pirates 6 Royals 5

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates survived a 13-hit barrage by the Royals by hitting 3 two-run homers to pull out a nice 6-5 win. Ronnie Simon hit his first career homer to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. Jake Mangum hit another two-run shot in the 4th to stretch their lead to 4-1. Bubba Chandler struggled for over 4 innings, giving up 8 hits and being charged with 3 runs. Camilo Doval had a tough 7th inning, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits to allow the Royals to take the lead 5-4. In the bottom of the 8th, Rafael Flores led off the inning with a single. On a 1-1 pitch, Brandon Lowe took a 94 MPH cutter and drilled it 401 feet into the right-center field seats to give the Pirates the lead 6-5. Mason Montgomery came in to pitch the 9th. After giving up a leadoff walk, he retired the side in order, with the game ending on a sliding catch of a foul pop-up by none other than Henry Davis. I guess the Pirates don’t have the tiebreaker with the Padres, so they are eliminated from the playoffs. Maybe they can finish above .550. That would be something. Not much, but something.

Key Moments of the Game: Bubba Chandler danced through the raindrops figuratively and literally in the first four innings of the ballgame. He retired the side in order in the first. In the second, he gave up two singles but no runs, thanks to a double play. In the third, he surrendered a home run and then two singles but no more runs. In the top of the fourth, he gave up two singles and hit a batter but managed to keep any runs from scoring. In the top of the fifth, he did not get an out. Don Kelly brought in a reliever, which was a miracle. Chandler had thrown 90 pitches, which I am sure was the biggest factor in his removal, not the fact that he was stinking up the joint. He brought in Brandon Eisert with runners on first and second and no outs. The Royals quickly executed a double steal to put runners on second and third. The Royals made it 4-2 with a ground out to first. Michael Massey laid down a bunt down the first base line. Ryan O’Hearn picked up the ball and shuttled it between his legs to Eisert to get Massey at first base. It scored another Royals run, but now the bases were empty. Eisert gave up another single but got the last out of the inning on a fly out to left field. With the exception of Doval, the Pirate bullpen did not give up a hit the rest of the way.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Royals in Pittsburgh. With a rainy day predicted in Pittsburgh the Pirates will try and go for the sweep. Looks like another bullpen day for the Pirates as they refuse to let their young pitchers start a game and see how they can do. More on that later in the month. The Pirates have always shown they play well in meaningless games. Maybe Mother Nature will stop them today. Stay tuned.

Final Score: Pirates 9 Reds 1

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates brought out the long ball, and Mitch Keller pitched 7 strong innings as the Pirates buried the Reds to snap their 5-game losing streak. They hit 4 home runs, with 2 coming from the unlikely source of Henry Davis. Marcell Ozuna hit his 3rd home run of the season, while Bryan Reynolds hit a 443-foot blast in the first inning to get the Pirates rolling. They continued to tack on runs in innings 3 through 6, piling up 9 runs on 12 hits and 8 walks. Mitch Keller went 7 innings, giving up only 1 run on 3 hits. He struck out 6 and walked 1 while throwing 104 pitches. The Reds only managed to put 5 runners in scoring position and did not get a hit, leaving only 4 men on base. This was a dominant win for the Pirates, but can they keep the momentum going? Could a 2-homer game get Henry Davis to hit above his weight? The same could be said about Ozuna. The Pirates have to at least win this series now, and a sweep would be even sweeter.

Key Moments In The Game: In the bottom of the third, the Pirates had a runner on 1st with 2 outs. Bryan Reynolds, with a powerful swing, hit a triple to right where the right fielder almost made a spectacular catch. Ryan O’Hearn followed up with a well-placed single, enabling the Pirates to extend their lead to 3-0. It had been a while since we had seen some 2-out lightning that electrified the fans. The energy was palpable as the home team built momentum. In the bottom of the 5th, the excitement peaked when both Ozuna and Davis launched impressive 2-run homers, effectively breaking the game open at 8-0 and leaving the Reds in the dust. The Pirate pitching was relentless, never allowing the Reds off the mat, which solidified their dominance on the field and set the stage for an easy win.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Reds are in Pittsburgh at 4:05 PM. Carmen Mlodzinski goes today for the Pirates. Can he regain his form? The bullpen is at least well-rested. The Reds will counter with right-hander Rhett Lowder. He has been a solid starter, having only one bad outing this year out of six starts. The good news is that the Reds do seem to be in a bit of a hitting funk lately. Let’s hope that it lasts for two more games. Last year, Henry Davis had about five or six games with a hitting surge and then went back to looking horrible for the rest of the season. Last night could be more of the same. His lack of hitting at the MLB level has always been a bit of a mystery to me. He was drafted No. 1 strictly because of his bat. If he could somehow become an average hitter, it would give the Pirates an unbelievable boost.