Final Score: Pirates 8 Rangers 3
Why The Pirates Won: Tommy Pham and Ke’Bryan Hayes had their games of the year. Pham went 3 for 3 with a sacrifice fly. He had 2 doubles and drove in 3 runs. He had 9 RBIs going into the game. Hayes went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Hayes also flashed some spectacular leather. The Pirate offense came alive with 8 runs on 15 hits. They walked 3 times and struck out just 3 times. Bailey Falter was pretty much ineffective, but all is forgiven when your team scores 8 runs. In 5 and 1/3 innings, he gave up 3 runs on 6 hits. He walked 5 and struck out 1. It took him 89 pitches to get into the 6th inning. The bullpen did not give up a hit. It was a nice win for the Pirates. They have dropped their 3rd series in a row. The Pirates have had offensive outbursts earlier this season. The problem is they just don’t seem to sustain them. It would be nice to see them rattle off about 4 or 5 games where they score at least 4 runs. Not likely to happen.
Key Moments Of The Game: Bailey Falter danced through the raindrops most of the time. None more so than the top of the 3rd. He gave up a double and a walk to start the inning. In 3 pitches, he retired Corey Seager and Marcus Semien on a pop-up and fly-out. Then he threw a wild pitch to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Adolis Garcia hit a 102 MPH ground ball. Hayes made a diving stop and threw on to first to get the final out of the inning. The score was tied going into the bottom of the 5th, 2-2. The Pirates took the lead 3-2 on a walk and 2 singles. Joey Bart hit into a force out at second. This put runners on 1st and 3rd with 2 outs. Then the miracle happened. Spencer (Please Pronounce My Name Right Greg Brown) Horwitz doubled, driving in 2 runs. Hayes singled, driving in a run. Pham doubled, driving in a run. Suddenly, the Pirates had a 7-2 lead. Falter tried to give it away the next inning. Another spectacular play by Hayes helped limit the damage to 1 run. The Pirates added another run in the 7th and won going away 8-3.
Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Milwaukee. Braxton Ashcraft is going to start for the Pirates. I don’t know if this is going to be a bullpen game or a legitimate start for Ashcraft. I don’t think the Pirates know either. We will see if the offense can finally get some consistency. You know after the game Pham had, he will be starting. If not, I imagine that Kelly will be fired on the spot. Speaking of offense, the Brewers are red hot. They have won 4 in a row and have scored a whopping 43 runs in those 4 games. That is a month’s worth of runs for the Pirates. I’m not looking it up, but I bet the Pirates have not scored 43 runs in a week of games. Can the Pirates withstand the barrage? Probably not.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 