Final Score: Pirates 2 Brewers 10
Why The Pirates Lost: Bubba Chandler’s long-awaited first start was pretty much a bust. In 2 and 2/3 innings, he gave up 9 runs on 9 hits. He walked 3 and struck out 3. He gave up some hard-hit balls, but even weak contact seemed to find holes. The Brewers put on a hitting clinic. Most of their hits were to the opposite field. There were 6 balls that were hit between 70 and 85 MPH. Four of those were for base hits. Not only was Chandler not sharp, but his luck was bad also. The Pirate offense put on a clinic too. A clinic on what not to do. They took a whopping 30 pitches for strikes. They swung at 20 pitches outside the zone. This all helped them strike out 12 times. This time the bottom 6 in the order went 2 for 21. The AAA boys went 0 for 6 with 2 walks. Nobody had a worse game than Oneil Cruz. He struck out in all four at-bats. He made contact with the ball just twice out of 16 pitches. Talk about making life easy for opposing pitchers. This series showed how far the Pirates have to go to become a quality club. Are you familiar with the moon? One final note. The Pirates sent down Ryan Kreidler to the minors. He was put on the roster August 31 and saw no action. I thought he might start yesterday. Instead, the Pirates said goodbye. What purpose did that serve? They brought up Ji Hwan Bae. We know what he can do. Nothing good. Oh well, the triple AAA boys got a new member.
Key Moment Of The Game: The Brewers jumped all over Chandler right in the 1st inning. The first 5 batters got 4 hits and a walk to quickly go out in front 3-0. A double play netted a 4th run. In the bottom of the 1st, Jacob Misiorowski walked the first two batters of the game. The Pirates could have gotten right back in the game. Reynolds grounded into a force play, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. Nick Gonzales ended the inning by grounding into a double play. The Brewers scored 5 more runs in the next 2 innings, chasing Chandler in the 3rd. The Brewers clinched the series sweep before the 3rd inning was over.
Next Game: Tomorrow night Orioles in Baltimore. The Pirates go on a 6 game road trip. They play 3 against the Orioles and 3 against the Nationals. The Pirates had a nice run going until the Brewers came to town. Now the Pirates are going up against two teams that are in the same boat they are. Neither team has any chance of making the playoffs. The Nationals are 4 games behind the Pirates. The Orioles are 3 games ahead of the Pirates. Two teams, like the Pirates, that are playing essentially meaningless games. It will be interesting to see if the Pirates can hold their own against teams that are not under pressure. A 3-3 road trip would be a surprise.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 