Tag: los-angeles-dodgers

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Pirates Morning Report: Stop The Presses, The Pirate Offense Wins One

Final Score: Pirates 10 Dodgers 6

Why The Pirates Won: In the first game of the series the Pirates outpitched the Dodgers and last night they outhit them. Paul Skenes had a good outing but still gave up 3 runs on 6 hits including 2 home runs, striking out 8 walking 1, taking 93 pitches to complete just 5 innings. The Pirate bullpen shakily finished the last 4 innings but fortunately the Pirate offense kept adding on after their big 7 run second inning that chased Dodger starter James Paxton. It was the middle of the lineup that shined for the Pirates last night. Olivares, Hayes, and Gonzales went 6 for 8 with 3 walks, scoring 5 runs, while driving in 6 runs. The Pirates will be going for the sweep tonight.

The Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates ability to add on made the game a little less tense as the Dodgers tried to get back into it. The score was 7-2 in the top of the 5th when Andy Pages led off the inning with a home run. A throwing error by Nick Gonzales put a runner on first with no outs. The Pirates and Skenes caught a break when Mookie Betts was called out on strikes on a pitch that was inside. Ohtani then singled. Freddie Freeman was called out on strikes with the first pitch being outside and the 3rd strike borderline. Will Smith laced one out to right field for another hit, but Olivares played it so well that the runner could not score from second base, loading the bases. On the first pitch of the at bat Teoscar Hernandez grounded to Hayes who step on the bag and the inning was over. Skenes knew how fortunate he was as he was shaking his head coming off the mound. In the top of the 8th with score now 10-5 Shelton put in his favorite reliever Hunter (I Am Only Comfortable With A 7 Run Lead) Stratton. Sure enough, boom bam double single and it’s 10-6 before you could say DFA him please. He did get the next 2 outs on the 8-9 hitters for the Dodgers but walked Mookie Betts to face Ohtani. Smart move. Shelton had finally seen enough and put Holderman in. Just to make things more interesting Holderman threw a wild pitch to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Ohtani hit a towering drive down the right field line that Olivares caught about 3 feet short of the wall. Bednar pitched another clean 9th and the Pirates beat the Dodgers for the second time in a row.

Next Game: Tonight, Dodgers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates send Barry Falter to the mound tonight, the surprise player of the season. Don’t look now but he has the lowest ERA of any Pirate starter, except Skenes. The Pirates are going up against Walker Buehler who has not been exactly lighting it up since his return from Tommy John surgery. The only bad news here is that with Buehler pitching Rawhide Rowdy will probably get the start. It won’t be Bailey’s fault if the Pirates lose. I just can’t help myself. Go for the sweep Buccos.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bending But Not Breaking

Final Score: Pirates 1 Dodgers 0

Why The Pirates Won: Jared Jones and the Pirate bullpen combined to shut out the Dodgers despite allowing a lot of traffic on the basepaths. The Dodgers got a runner to 3rd in 5 innings and a runner on 2nd one other inning. They were a Pirate like 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 9 runners. Jared Jones pitched 6 innings giving up 3 hits, 3 walks, striking out 6. He finished strong retiring the last 6 batters he faced striking out 4 of them, throwing his last pitch of the game at 99 MPH. The bullpen had its shaky moments as we will see but came through when it mattered to preserve the shutout and the win. The anemic offense of the Pirates scored their only run on a Jack Suwinski home run in the 3rd inning. They only managed 3 other hits while striking out 13 times. Rawhide Rowdy despite his big game on Sunday was certainly hearing the boo birds last night. I guess one game does not erase a season of awfulness. At least the Pirates won’t be swept by the Dodgers.

The Key Moment Of The Game: Aroldis Chapman came in for the top of the 8th and immediately I had trouble breathing. On the 5th pitch Shohei (I Am Very Trusting) Ohtani hit a seeing eye ground ball through the infield. Miraculously Chapman got a called 3rd strike on Freddie Freeman that was low. Then he walks Will Smith on 4 pitches. Breathing very shallow at this point with my brain thinking he is going to walk the next 2 batters. On the first pitch Teoscar Hernandez hit a down the middle slider 107 MPH that Chapman thought had left the park but was caught by Jack Suwinski 380 feet from homeplate. This did move Ohtani to 3rd. Chapman struck out Andy Pages on 6 pitches and I collapsed on the floor. Sweet Jesus a miracle had happen. On the 2nd pitch of the at bat Henry Davis made a nice stop on a fastball that was way low and inside to the right-handed batter that kept the tying run from scoring. The Pirates pulled out a tight tense game. Fortunately, Shelton did not have to make many moves. He did have, of all people, Hunter (Christ I Hope I Don’t Get In) Stratton warming up in the 6th inning. Unbelievable!

Next Game: Tonight, Dodgers in Pittsburgh. Paul Skenes will start tonight, and you have to wonder how long that even he can keep the Dodgers at bay. The Dodgers are sending lefty James Paxton to the mound, so Rawhide Rowdy won’t be hearing the boos tonight.