Tag: Pirates

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Pirates Morning Report: .500 Road Trip Locked UP

Final Score: Pirates 6 Astros 2

Why The Pirates Won: For two days in a row it was the .200 club that contributed mightily to this win. It is not often you win a game when your 3-4 hitters in the lineup go 1 for 10 and strikeout 7 times. Jared Triolo and Michael Taylor went 2 for 7, with 1 walk, driving in 3 runs. Barry Falter pitched a nice 5 and 1/3 innings coming back from the IL. He gave up 1 earned run on 6hits, walking no one. Dennis Santana came in the bottom of the 6th to snuff out the rally and pitched a scoreless 7th inning. In his last 7 games he has 9 and 2/3 innings and has not given up a run, while striking out 16 batters. Whether it is the change of scenery, or he and the Pirates found something, he has been lights out over his last 10-11 appearances. Glad I was wrong about him. Kyle Nicolas and Hunter Stratton finished up. Even though they had some issues, the Astros failed to score any runs and the Pirates had pretty much of a stress-free win.

The Key Moment Of The Game: In the top of the sixth there were two out, nobody on and Jared Triolo was behind in the count 0-2. Over the next 6 pitches Triolo battled to get a walk. Michael Taylor for the second straight day hit a big 2 out home run to make the score 5-1 Pittsburgh, which gave the Pirates a very nice cushion. The Astros did get a run in the bottom of the inning but never had a major threat going for the rest of the day. The Pirates got the final run on a bases loaded walk to Andrew McCutchen to clinch the series win.

Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Houston. The Pirates will start recently acquired Jake Woodford. He has had an up and down career. Let’s hope he has an up night so the Pirates have a shot at getting the sweep. The Pirates made modest noise at the deadline, which should help the team some. I will discuss that more when the Pirates make their final roster moves. Right now, just basking in the glory of a 3-game road winning streak, against some pretty good competition.

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Pirates Morning Report: Unlikely Heroes Even Up Road Trip

Final Score: Pirates 5 Astros 3

Why The Pirates Won: The .200 Club won this game. Yasmani Grandal, Michael (I Refuse To Write The A) Taylor and Jared Triolo all had big hits to help win this game. Taylor in particular had the big game going 2 for 3 with a homer and 3 RBIs. Paul Skenes had another solid outing allowing only 1 earned run on 5 hits, walking 3, striking out 6, while throwing 101 pitches. He was not his sharpest, but if Ke’Bryan Hayes makes the play on a ground ball, it might have been a double play, and he would have given up 0 runs. This game was very similar to the previous win except the Pirates tied it in the 8th and took the lead in the 9th. The bullpen had another shaky bottom of the last inning but held on to pick up the win. No matters what happens on the rest of the trip, it cannot be consider a disaster.

Key Moments Of The Game: Oneil Cruz’s double to tie the game and Michael Taylor’s 3 run homer to give the Pirates a 5-2 lead came when 2 were out. David Bednar came in to get the save in the bottom of the 9th. After quickly getting one out, things began to go awry. Victor Caratini singled up the middle. Bednar walks the next batter. Jose Altuve singles to left to load the bases. Alex Bregman hit a 102 MPH liner that Michael Taylor was able to snag for the 2nd out. Up to the plate stepped the ever-dangerous Yordan Alvarez who was already 2 for 4 with an RBI. The Pirates decided on a gutsy move by giving him nothing to hit walking him to make the score 5-3 putting the winning run on base and the tying run in scoring position. It paid off as Bednar got Yainer Diaz to pop out to Cruz to end the game. Whew!

Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Houston. Barry Falter returns tonight and at least he is not facing a top of the rotation guy. A 3-3 road trip has now become more of a possibility. More so than the Pirates doing anything to really improve this team. We have about 11 hours to find out.

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Pirates Morning Report: Punchless Pirates Lose Again

Final Score: Pirates 3 Diamondbacks 4

Why The Pirates Lost: In the last 7 innings of the game the Pirates scored 0 runs on 3 hits. The 4 through 7 hitters went 2 for 14. The team was 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position. They left 9 men on base. The Diamondbacks tried to help out by walking 3 and hitting 2 batters but the Pirates refused to take advantage. Oneil Cruz looked like he was suffering from jet lag, his at bats were so bizarre. He took 2 out of 3 strikes to strike out on 3 pitches. To make up for it on his next at bat, he swung at all 6 pitches even though only 1 was in the strike zone, to strike out again. On his 4th at bat, he took 2 strikes and then could not hold up on a pitch that was almost over his head. Mr. Cruz is 6′ 7″. Luiz Ortiz for the first time in a long time had control issues. In just 5+ innings of work Ortiz gave up 3 runs, 5 hits, walking 3, striking out 4, while throwing 93 pitches. With this offense you have to do better than that.

Key Moment Of The Game: It was 3-1 Pirates going into the bottom of the 6th inning. Ortiz had been dancing through the raindrops giving up just 1 run. The inning started off with a bang when Joc Peterson hit an 0-2 fast ball 453 feet to make it 3-2. Then Ortiz walked the next batter and was done for the day. Out went Ortiz and in came Carmen Mlodzinski, who also seemed to be jet lagged. In 5 pitches he gave up 2 singles and before you could say how do spell Mlodzinski, the score was tied 3-3. If the Pirates would have somehow won this game, the next play would have been the play of the game. Eugenio Suarez hit a line drive but right at Ke’Bryan Hayes and he threw out the runner at 1st to complete a very fortunate double play. Mlodzinski took the game into his own hands by throwing a wild pitch to make sure that the Diamondbacks would win the game 4-3. The Pirates never really threatened the rest of the way and the road trip started with a loss.

Next Game: Tonight, Diamondbacks in Arizona. Marco Gonzalez starts for the Pirates tonight and apparently has a good record against the Diamondbacks. When will this team ever get offensive help. The Pirates are 2-3 in their last 5 games. The offense has averaged barely over 2 runs per game. They completely wasted an impressive performance by Paul Skenes. Management continues to do nothing.

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Pirates Morning Report: All Star Break, Part One

The Pirates made it to .500, 48-48 thanks to a finishing 4 game winning streak. The Pirates are 7-0 against the Marlins and the White Sox. I will never belittle those wins. The Marlins beat the Reds in the last game before the break. This does beg the question, did the Pirates really improve, or did they take advantage of poor competition. In the 3 phases of the game, hitting, pitching, and defense, let’s see what happened. They got a lot better pitching, stayed the same hitting, and surprisingly got worse on defense since we last took a look at the Pirates, 31 games ago. Let us look at the team numbers first. The offense continues to stink but at least they did not get worse. If you listen to the broadcast booth you would think this team is ready to become the 27′ Yankees. Dream away child. In runs scored they are still at 20th in the league at 4.19 runs per game. In on base percentage they have fallen to 27th from their lofty perch of 24th. In the comparison stat OPS+ there are now only 2 teams in all of baseball that hit worse than they do. There is no question their pitching has gotten them to .500. They showed vast improvement in every category. In runs allowed they went up to 14th from 19th. In fielding independent pitching, they had a huge improvement going up to 7th in baseball from 19th. In the comparison stat of ERA+ they went up two places to 12th. Going through each position and area according to WAR the Pirate rotation is hitting elite status as they are ranked 3rd in all of baseball. Too bad the rest of the team can’t even come close to that. The next highest ranked position is left field where Bryan Reynolds has played the most at 12th. Where the Pirates stink the most is centerfield (30th), pinch hitting (26th), catcher (25th), right field (22th), and the bullpen (22nd). Then we come to what I feel is the most disappointing part of this Pirate team the defense. In defense efficiency which takes in all aspects of a team’s defense not just errors, the Pirates now are 25th, falling 8 places. Essentially, they are one of the worst fielding teams in the league.

Looking at the individual players here are the culprits that are having horrible offensive seasons up to this point. OPS+ is the comparison stat on how a player compares with his constituents. It takes into consideration the run scoring environment, the competition and the ballpark the player plays in. It comes out simply a whole number with 100 being league average. Being a league average hitter is absolutely fine and if the Pirates had about 8-9 hitters at league average or above, they would probably be in first place. Here are the Pirate players that probably could not get a hit even if there were only 5 players on the field. Their OPS+ is in parenthesis. Yasmani Grandal (42), Ke’Bryan Hayes (74), Michael Taylor (53), Jared Triolo (59), Jack Suwinski (63), Henry Davis (45), and Alika Williams (48). With the exception of Hayes, these players are hitting at a rate of 37 to 48% worse than the league average. Even though I know this won’t happen, there is not one single reason that I can think of for these players to be on the team when play resumes after the break. More on that in part 2. Even with his hot 6 to 7 weeks Rawhide Rowdy Tellez sits at 92. What Rowdy are we going to see after the break. The April May Rowdy or the June July Rowdy. The other aspect of the Pirate game that will have to improve is the bullpen. You cannot be the 22nd best bullpen and make the playoffs. Hopefully the defense will improve just by the normal course of events.

Finally let’s set the record straight. This is not the second half of the season. The season is 60% over. The Pirates have played 96 games and there are 66 games to go. With the expanded playoffs the last two years, 87 and 84 wins have made the final playoff spot. Both years that final playoff spot made it to the World Series. Let’s compromise here and say it will take 86 wins to make the playoffs. The Pirates would need to go 38-28 to get to that point. I do not see that happening in the team’s current state. In my view the Pirates need 2 outfielders, a catcher, and at least on more bullpen arm. How they will go about that or even if they will go about that will dictate how this season will go. Part 2 on Friday.

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Pirates Morning Report: Mind Boggling Last 6 Innings

Final Score: Pirates 5 Giants 9 in 10 innings

Why The Pirates Lost: Bryan Reynolds hit a grand slam home run in the bottom of the 4th to give the Pirates a 5-0 lead. From that moment on, the Pirates got one more hit, 2 walks, struck out 10 times and made 15 consecutive outs at one point. They did not get a hit from the 5th to the end of the game. Jared Jones pitched what I consider his standard outing now, 6 innings, 3 runs, with at least one home run. A good outing but certainly not phenom like. The bullpen thought they would get into the act by giving up 6 runs, 6 hits, but “only” 5 walks in 4 innings of work. In that 6 inning span the Pirates went from a team looking like they were going to win 3 in a row to a team that looks in total disarray. I don’t know what is worse, seeing them fill the bases and never scoring, or never getting on base period for a protracted period of time.

Key Moment Of The Game: Despite the horrible batting over 4 and 2/3 innings, the Pirates were clinging to a 5-4 lead going into the top of the 9th. Colin Holderman had limited the damage in the 8th when Aroldis Chapman walked the bases loaded to start the inning. Holderman allowed only one run to score which made the score 5-4. He got the first 2 outs in the top of the 9th. The count went to 2-2 to Luis Matos. He threw two sweepers in a row and Matos hit the 2nd one to left field for a base hit. Holderman opened the at bat by throwing a 99 MPH sinker. Reynolds booted the ball and Matos was able to make it to second. Holderman threw 3 straight sweepers to LaMonte Wade Jr. He ripped the third one to right field for a base hit to tie the game. Holderman threw a lot of sweepers in the 8th too, but when you have a 98+ MPH sinker why are you throwing the sweeper that much. Regardless, once the game was tied you knew it was over. The 10th was a disaster and the Pirates fell to 23-27. What a team!

The Next Game: This afternoon, the Giants in Pittsburgh. Paul Skenes goes today for the Pirates and hopefully they can secure a series win. The big bad Atlanta Brave are coming to town. They haven’t been that big or bad lately winning only 8 of their last 17 games. I don’t know if that is good or bad. Are they due to come out of this mild funk? Let’s hope not. That’s what makes last night lost sting even more.

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Pirates Morning Report: It’s Time For Replacements.

Final Score: Pirates 2 Rockies 3

Why The Pirates Lost: You’re kidding right. The Pirates made the no brainer move, pun intended, sending down Henry Davis and recalling Yasmani Grandal. It is time for this management team to get some testicles and shake up this team. The replacements are ready and are hitting. Check out these slash lines and this is not a misprint. Ji Hwan Bae .414/.516/.577, Nick Gonzales .358/.420/.575 and Jake Lamb .394/.483/.606. Now I know this is AAA but all of these players are slugging well over .500 and Bae is getting on base more than he is making outs. Who would these guys replace. Try ANYBODY. For now, I will take Jack Suwinski, Jared Triolo, and Rowdy (Rawhide) Tellez. Last nights game had some mind boggling stats. Six innings the Pirates went 3 up 3 down. Six innings they failed to get a hit. Their hitting coach said it is all about the process. WELL, THEIR PROCESS STINKS DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Their problems can be summed up by one pitch in the bottom of the ninth to Ke’Bryan Hayes. The first pitch was right down the middle. It couldn’t have been more down the middle and Hayes just looked at it for a called strike. That is one great process. The Pirates are now 14-19 losing their last 5 games. Here is the real scary thing. In the last three series, the Pirates have faced teams with worst records than theirs, when each series started. Their record is 1-6. Can’t wait to play the Dodgers and the Braves.

Key Moments Of The Game: Anytime a Pirate came to the plate. When the Rockies scored their first run on a home run you knew the game was over. Cruz did hit a home run in the bottom of 9th to make it close, but you knew they were going to lose.

Next Game: This afternoon, Rockies in Pittsburgh. Jared Jones will start for the Pirates. Jones is debating whether or not to fake an illness. He was seen in the locker room staring at 2-day old Sushi. He might have been thinking why are Suwinski and Tellez playing. What is the thinking here. I do not think there are going to be any miracles. There are 3 solid options in AAA. This team needs help. How about giving them some management.

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Pirates Morning Report: Thirty Two Games In

The Pirates stand at 14 wins and 18 losses. Talk about a tale of two halves. First 16 games 11-5, the last 16 games 3-13. I will take a look at the offense, defense and pitching. With all the stats and analytics today, it still boils down to three things when it comes to batting and pitching. Batting you have to get on base, score runs and then compare how you are doing with the rest of the league. The comparison stat is OPS+ with 100 being league average. This stat compares a batter with the rest of league based on the ballpark, competition and a variety of other factors. With pitching you have to be good at what you can control, home runs, walks and strikeouts. This is Fielding Independent Pitching known as FIP. As a pitcher you have to prevent runs and the comparison stat here is ERA+, again with 100 being league average. I always use Baseball References Defensive Efficiency to evaluate how a team is fielding. This takes in all aspects of fielding not just errors. Let us see how the Pirates shake out.

The Hitting: They are 15th in on base percentage, 21st in runs scored and 24th in OPS+. Quite frankly I thought they would be worse. All the runs they scored in the beginning of the season must have helped them score more runs than 9 other teams in baseball. These stats show that they are not that bad about getting on base but have not been able to take advantage. Right now, the Pirates have 5 players hitting above league average. A very small sample size Joey Bart (154), Connor Joe (140), the surprising Alika Williams (120) Bryan Reynold (115) and Ke’Bryan Hayes (101). On the opposite side of the spectrum, we have Henry Davis (44) Jack Suwinski (55), Jared Triolo and Rowdy Tellez each at 61. This means they are performing 39 to 56% below the major league average hitter. In my view all of these players are disappointing if not surprising. The biggest surprise here is Triolo. I thought he would have to perform like he did the last 2 months of the season for the Pirates to have success and he has not come close. As a whole the team has lacked power which was supposed to be a plus. There are only 4 teams that have hit less home runs than the Pirates. Ke’Bryan Hayes has been one of the disappointments here. The last 2 months of the season he slugged .501. So far this year it’s .345.

Pitching: The Pirate staff is 17th in FIP, 15th in runs allowed and 12th in ERA+. This time I thought the Pirates might be better. The rotation did get off to a slow start and the hitting bailed them out in the first 10 games or so. The Pirates are right in the middle of the pack with these key pitching stats. This has not been good enough to overcome the horrible hitting over the last 2 weeks. The Pirates have 3 starters that are above average, Martin Perez (144), Jared Jones (126), and Quinn Priester (122). Out of the bullpen, we have small sample size Colin Holderman (317), Josh Fleming (184), Hunter Stratton (136), Luis Ortiz (131), and Roansy Contreras (100). What is amazing that 2 pitchers with ERA+ well above 100 are in the minors, Ryder Ryan and Jose Hernandez. Missing from the list is Mitch Keller, Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar. Despite all the hype about Mitch Keller being the Pirate ace and what a great year he had last year, the truth is 2022 and 2023 were the same. His ERA+ was 104 for both years. This computes to being 4% better than the average starter in baseball. Nice, but not someone you want to pitch in game one of a playoff series. If this team is going to do anything Bednar and Chapman better get their act together even if they start to hit again.

Fielding: The Pirates are 12th in Defensive Efficiency. I thought they would do better, but this is still one of their highest positions. Part of the reason I don’t think they are better is because they have not played Michael Taylor enough. I know this team needs offense, but this is a premier centerfielder, and you need to play him, bat him 9th and take your lumps. He is not really doing that bad at the plate when you compare him to Tellez, Davis and Suwinski and they are either terrible or below average fielders. This is one aspect of the Pirates that needs to get better even though it is tied for the highest ranking of any phase of Pirate baseball at the moment.

What’s Next: I was going to speculate on what some of moves the Pirates might make. Trying to predict what this management team might or might not do is just about impossible. First of all, their bizarre batting orders and line ups are enough to drive you crazy. That could be an entire blog but let me give a couple of examples. When Andrew McCutchen is put in the lineup he should bat in one spot and one spot only, lead off. HE IS NOT A CLEAN UP HITTER. The opening game against the Giants they started Oneil Cruz against a left hander. The next night against a fire balling right hander he is on the bench. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? Like everybody else I will just wait until later today to see if the Pirates are going to make any personnel changes. Looking ahead there is good news and there is bad news. The bad news is the Cubs, Brewers, and Reds are looking like they are going to make this a 3 team dog fight. That could be the good news too, if they keep knocking each other off. All three, unlike the Pirates, are looking like very good baseball teams. The good news is the Pirates cannot be this offensively inept all season or can they? Can Hayes get his power back? Can the whole team get their power back? Will Triolo start to hit? Will they start to get more both offensively and defensively out of the catcher’s spot. Will management start playing players that are performing and not players who are projected to perform? Will the bullpen mainstays Bednar and Chapman turn it around? Finally, what if any changes are going to come today? Only The Shelton knows. All the preceding questions need to be answered with a yes if this team is going to contend.

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Pirates Morning Report: Swept By The A’s

Final Score: Pirates 0 A’s 4

Why The Pirates Lost: The offensive woes continue to get worse. The A’s tried to help the Pirates score a run or two by committing 3 errors and walking 4, but the Pirates were even more incompetent. The Pirates could only muster 4 hits, one double and three singles. Pirates did hit some hard balls, but they were not deep enough or right at someone. This was a game that you typically see when a team is going bad. The Pirates are now 3 and 13 in their last 16 games. In their first 16 games they were 11-5. Quinn Priester had a quality start giving up 3 runs but one was unearned. When you get shutout, it means you are either going to lose or play forever. The Pirates are not playing as I am writing this. The Pirates have a must needed day off and it will be interesting to see if they make any moves. I am not going to speculate but you have to figure they have to do something. You cannot help but feel the season is slipping away, but it is early and after all is said and done, they are only 4 games below .500.

The Key Moments Of The Game: It was all on the Pirates side of the ball. In the 2nd, first and second with 2 out, in the 3rd, runner on 2nd 2 out, in the 4th, runner on 3rd one out and then 1st and 3rd with 2 out, in the 7th, bases loaded 2 out, and finally in the 8th, 1st and 2nd 2 out. The Pirates could not score. They left 10 men on base and were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The road trip came to a merciful end at 1-5. The Pirates record now stands at 14 and 18, last in the division. They are heading home for a 9 game homestand.

Next Game: Tomorrow, Rockies in Pittsburgh. One of the reasons I said it will be interesting to see what if any moves the Pirates make on their off day is they may stand pat because they are playing 2 teams that are probably worse than them in the Rockies and the Troutless Angels. Tomorrow will be the 32 game report and it will be rather sad.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Art Of Scoring, Obviously Not The Pirates.

Final Score: Pirates 1 A’s 5

Why The Pirates Lost: Anybody want to guess why the Pirates lost? Here is one of many interesting things. For a team that is desperate to score runs, they had 3 guys on the bench with on base percentages of .303, .351, and .365, which is higher than 5 of the players that started. They put McCutchen in the clean up spot. Why? Jack Suwinski, Rowdy Tellez, and Henry Davis are on the team. Why? On the other side of the coin the A’s showed the Pirates what to do. They did hit a home run to get their first run, but 3 of the runs scored on sacrifice flies. Do the Pirates have 3 sacrifice flies this year? Don’t know, don’t care. That is way the way you manufacture runs. Barry Falter did not have a good game giving up 5 runs on 6 hits after 5 innings. Contreras and Kyle Nicolas finished up the game giving up no runs, but they tried to let the A’s score by giving up 4 walks, 2 hits while throwing 71 pitches. Why didn’t they send Chapman out for an inning to see if he can straighten himself out a little? So what if he walked a couple of runs in, this game was over. Oh yeah, I forgot they are probably saving him for the playoffs. Could this be the low point of the season? I don’t know but I hope so.

Key Moment Of The Game: The game was tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the 4th when the A” led off the inning with a single and a double. The next 2 hitters hit sacrifice flies and the score was 3-1 A’s. Second and third with no outs, the A’s scored 2 runs without getting a hit. Something the Pirates haven’t been able to do for 3 weeks. The A’s added 2 more in 5th with one of those runs scoring on a sacrifice fly.

Next Game: Tonight, the A’s in Oakland. Starting for the Pirates tonight will be Mitch(I Got The Most Run Support In Three Weeks And Still Couldn’t Win) Keller. It would be something if both he and the Pirates bats would come out of their funk at the same time and win something like 6-0. After tomorrow’s game I will have the Pirate 32 game report on Friday evaluating the team 1/5th of the way through the season. The best the Pirates will be is at .500, but right now that seems like it will take a miracle.

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Pirates Morning Report: Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Final Score: Pirates 9 Phillies 2

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate offense got well today hitting 3 home runs and scoring 9 runs. They touched up the Phillies ace Zack Wheeler for 5 runs in just 5+ innings of work. The offense wound up having quite a line, scoring 9 runs on 10 hits, walking 6 times and striking out a whopping 15 times. Oneil Cruz and Michael Taylor led the way striking out 4 times each. The other odd thing was that the top of the order went 0 for 10 with 6 strikeouts. The 3 through 6 hitters picked up the slack, going 8 for 17 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI’s. Mitch Keller pitched not a great but solid 7 innings giving up 2 runs on 8 hits walking no one and striking out 4. Trea Turner was his nemesis hitting a home run and knocking in the other run with a 2 out single. Through 5 innings this was the tight pitching duel that was expected. Despite having an error, the Pirate defense had one of their better games turning 3 double plays and making numerous good plays in both the infield and the outfield.

Key Moment Of The Game: Through 5 innings the Phillies were leading 2-1 and Zack Wheeler was mowing them down. In the top of the 6th, Ke’Bryan Hayes reached first base on an error by the Phillies 3rd baseman when a routine ground ball went right under his glove. Then Rowdy Tellez walked. McCutchen blooped a ball into centerfield and the Pirates had the bases loaded with no outs. Up stepped Jack Suwinski who had not gotten a hit in about his last 12 at bats. On the second pitch, he laced one 106+ MPH into the right field stands for a grand slam and the Pirates suddenly were ahead 5-2, knocking Wheeler out of the box. Later in the same inning Joey Bart launched one into the left field seats and the Pirates now led 6-2. The Pirates added one in the 8th, and McCutchen hit his 300th home run with a man on in the 9th to make the final 9-2. The bullpen pitched a stress free final 2 innings and the Pirates are 11-5.

Next Game: Tonight, the Mets in New York. Martin Perez will start for the Pirates and has had a great start to the season with an ERA of 1.89. The Pirates continue to surprise. When you think they are forfeiting a game by letting Bailey Falter start his 2nd game he essentially pitches a no hitter for 6 innings and the Pirates win. When the Phillies send their ace to the mound to face the slumping Pirate bats, they score 9 runs and hit 3 home runs. These are surprises I can deal with all year. The road trip is 2-2 and now 3-4 seems very realistic.