Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bad Defense + Bullpen Collapse = Loss

Final Score: Pirates 2 Blue Jays 6

Why the Pirates Lost: They played horrible defense. The bullpen could not keep the game close, namely Dennis Santana. The offense contributed by having some of the most inept hitting of the year. Oneil Cruz and Konnor Griffin had particularly bad games, going 0 for 8 with 5 strikeouts. The Pirates, as a group, were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position. The Pirates’ website states that Bubba Chandler threw a gem. It was better than he usually does, but it was far from a gem. Granted, he did strike out 11 Blue Jays. He was the victim of horrible defense in the 3rd inning that led to 2 unearned runs. It took him 99 pitches to get through 5 innings, as he still walked 3 batters. With this bullpen in its current state, you need a starter to go more than 5 innings. The bullpen managed to get through the 6th and 7th shakily without giving up a run. Santana had the disastrous 8th. He gave up 3 doubles that scored 3 runs and this game was history.

Key Moments of the Game: In the bottom of the 3rd, the Blue Jays had 1st and 3rd with nobody out. Catcher’s interference and a single to center put the Blue Jays in business. The next hitter hit a ground ball down to first. Spencer Horwitz, instead of looking back at the runner and stepping on the bag to at least get one out, chose to try to get the runner at third who had come down the line. The only problem was he did not know what he was doing. Instead of going directly at the runner until he made a move, he threw the ball way too early. Not only that, but he threw the ball about 6 feet over Nick Gonzales’s head. This type of play is taught to little leaguers when they are 11 to 12 years old. Horwitz must have missed that practice. The Blue Jays scored a run and had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. One out later, a double made the score 3-1 Blue Jays. Just so that Horwitz would have no doubt about how bad of a play he made, the exact same play happened in the top of the 7th. With two singles, the Pirates had 1st and 3rd with no outs. They not only hit one ground ball but two ground balls in a row to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first. He must have been at that practice because, each time, he looked the runner back and then stepped on the bag to record outs. Let’s hope Horwitz saved those plays on his iPad. The Pirates walked away from that inning scoring no runs.

Next Game: This afternoon, Blue Jays in Toronto. Paul Skenes goes for the Pirates today. The Blue Jays counter with Patrick Corbin, the veteran left-hander. This will be an interesting lineup today. Cruz should get a rest after last night, even though he has done well against left-handers. The Pirates continue to try and ruin Oneil Cruz. He is not a leadoff hitter, and he has performed badly as a DH. For his career, he has had 93 plate appearances as a DH. He has 14 hits and 11 walks. That is a batting average of .171 and an OBP of .269. In the last two years, he is even worse, with 2 hits and 3 walks in 31 plate appearances as a DH. I am sure the Pirates will continue to lead him off and DH him periodically. The Pirates constantly put Cruz in situations where he does not excel. The Pirates should do him a service and just trade him so he can become a superstar. I can’t wait to see Henry Davis bat today either. The odds are 8-1 that he does not get a ball past the pitcher. Can the Pirates pull out a win today even with Skenes pitching with the team that is going to take the field? Highly unlikely, although I suppose Skenes could throw a complete game shutout.

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Pirates Morning Report: Davis Homers, Ozuna Big 2 RBI Hit, Not a Misprint.

Final Score: Pirates 6 Cardinals 2

Why the Pirates Won: Henry Davis hit a home run, and Marcell Ozuna went 2 for 4, driving in 2 runs to make the score 4-1 in favor of the Pirates. When those two perform like that, it completely demoralizes a team; you know right then that it is not your day. It didn’t hurt that Braxton Ashcraft spun another superb 7 innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits. He struck out 9 and walked 2 while throwing 98 pitches. The bullpen allowed 1 run, but the Cardinals never really posed a significant threat to win the game. The Pirates’ offense came alive for the 2nd straight game, scoring 6 runs on 10 hits, along with 2 walks and a hit batsman. They extended their lead nicely, adding 2 runs in both the 6th and 7th innings. All in all, it was a nice series win for the Pirates despite the goofy lineup they started, just as we all knew they would. As the Cardinals found out, sometimes it is just not your day.

Key Moments of the Game: Wilber Dotel came on to pitch the bottom of the 8th. After getting the first out, he gave up 3 straight singles to make the score 6-2. There were runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. If the Cardinals could get another hit, they would be starting to crawl back into the game. Dotel threw 4 straight 4-seam fastballs, all around 99 MPH, to strike out Nolan Gorman. He took 5 pitches to strike out Masyn Winn, with 4 of those being 4-seam fastballs. The last one was 100 MPH. Dotel is just 23 years old. Left-hander Mason Montgomery pitched the 9th and ended the game on a double play. The bullpen got the job done. Another reason the Cardinals knew it was not their day.

Next game: Tonight, Blue Jays in Toronto. The question is: can Bubba Chandler finally pitch a good game? The Blue Jays may be just what the doctor ordered. They are 24th in runs per game, 26th in slugging, and 27th in OPS. They still aren’t as bad as last year’s Pirates, but they are not hitting, to say the least. Of course, Chandler needs to find the plate. Wilber Dotel was brought up this week, and I was all for it. What I could not understand was why Isaac Matson was sent down. He was far from the worst-performing pitcher this year. There have been 13 pitchers who have pitched 10 innings or more for the Pirates. Matson ranks 6th in FIP, 9th in ERA, and 11th in WHIP. Not great, but far from being the worst pitcher on the team. I am sure his send-down was more about pitchers not having any more options than his performance. Naturally, the Pirates are not going to say that. I would have DFA’d Justin Lawrence. If some team would have taken him, I do not think it would have been a big loss. Even the way Yohan Ramirez has pitched lately would have been a good choice. Hopefully, it won’t take long for Matson to “find” himself and get back up here. Maybe Chandler will do the same tonight.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pitchers Make Comeback

Final Score: Pirates 7 Cardinals 0

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate pitching staff woke up last night and shut out the Cardinals. It is not to say that there was not a hairy moment or two but shut them out they did. The offense pounded out 15 hits and scored 7 runs, which was more than enough. The last 4 batters in the lineup, Konnor Griffin, Endy Rodríguez, Jhostynxon Garcia, and Jake Mangum, put together an impressive game. As a group, they went 10 for 18 with 2 walks, scored 5 runs, and had 2 RBIs. I wonder if they will get to play again. Carmen Mlodzinski pitched an odd, inefficient but effective 5 innings. He gave up 0 runs on 4 hits, walking 1 and striking out 1, while throwing 95 pitches. Then came the wild 6th inning.

Key Moments of the Game: The Pirates scored a run in the top of the 6th to make the score 3-0. Up to that point, the Pirates had missed some opportunities to score more runs. Yohan (Why Didn’t I Get Sent Down) Ramirez was elected to start the bottom of the 6th. He got the first batter to ground out. Alec Burleson singled to right. Ramirez then hit Jordan Walker. He was efficient at least, taking only 3 pitches to put runners on 1st and 2nd. He walked Nolan Gorman on 8 pitches, with only 2 actually finding the strike zone, to load the bases. He fell behind Masyn Winn 3 and 0. I thought the bullpen was about to blow another one. Somehow, he managed to throw 3 balls in the strike zone. Winn took one, fouled one, and missed one to strike out. Cesar Prieto swung at a very high fastball and lined it deep to right field. Jake Mangum made a twisting, turning catch on the ball right at the wall, or the game would have been tied. The bullpen did not give up a hit after that, and the Pirates broke it open in the 8th to win going away.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Cardinals, in St. Louis. Braxton Ashcraft will take the mound for the Pirates as they try for the series win on the road. Other than the shaky sixth inning and leaving 11 men on base, it was a solid win for the Pirates last night. Garcia, who from this point on will be referred to as The Password, seems to be an all-around good player. His first name sends spell check into a frenzy, and I am afraid it may blow up my computer. The Pirates will probably follow that silly rule of not letting a catcher play when a day game follows a night game. We most likely will see Henry Davis in the lineup today. There could be other strange day time lineup moves. It could cost us the series.

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Pirates Morning Report: No Relief in Sight

Final Score: Pirates 6 Cardinals 9

Why the Pirates Lost: The Pirates have lost 6 out of their last 8 games. In the 6 losses, the Pirates have given up 7, 10, 11, 6, 6, and 9 runs. Granted, they were shut out twice, 6-0. In the other 4 losses, they averaged just over 6 runs per game. You should win at least 3 of those games, if not all 4. The pitching has completely fallen apart, including the starters. What was supposed to be the team’s strength has turned out to be its biggest weakness. There does not appear to be any help on the way. The Pirate management team acts like it is not happening. The bullpen gave up 5 runs in a little over 3 innings as they blew another save. The offense, which went another 4 innings without scoring, managed to score 4 runs in the top of the 5th to take a 4-3 lead. They were helped along by pitcher Matthew Liberatore, who looked unhittable for 4 innings. He struck out a career-high 8 batters, including 5 out of the first 6 to start the game. In the top of the 5th, he completely fell apart. The Pirates got 3 big two-out at-bats from Bryan Reynolds (double), Marcell Ozuna (walk), and Oneil Cruz (single) to take a 4-3 lead. Alas, it was not enough, as the Pirates lost their 4th in a row.

Key Moments of the Game: It started with the lineup card as the Pirates elected to start Henry Davis for the third consecutive game. He did not disappoint, going 0 for 3 and not hitting a ball over 255 feet. His batting average is now .137. Through 4 innings, Mitch Keller had given up 3 runs on 4 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2. His 5th inning was his best; he retired the side in order. In the top of the 6th, he got the first out and then hit a batter. He got the dangerous Jordan Walker to pop out. He had thrown only 83 pitches. It looked like he was getting into a groove. Don Kelly elected to bring in lefty Evan Sisk. Sisk has decent numbers, but most of those have been in low-leverage situations. He has been in high-leverage situations 42% less than the average relief pitcher this year. This was just his 35th appearance in his long career. Keller is your number 2 starter. This was not a decision that was based on many facts other than the batter’s stats against left-handers. As Greg Brown was going through his long, boring reasons why Keller was taken out, Nolan Gorman took the 3rd pitch and hit it 437 feet to give the Cardinals a 5-4 lead. Where do the Pirates come up with this stuff?

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. Carmen Mlodzinski is listed as the starter for tonight’s game. It looks like the Pirates are not going with the opener that they have used twice when Mlodzinski has pitched with great success. No, you wouldn’t want to do that when you have given up 2 runs in 11 innings of pitching. Let’s keep trying to maintain our average of about 8 runs per game. They will probably start Henry Davis for the 4th game in a row. Would they really do that? I can’t wait to see.

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Pirates Morning Report: Borucki’s Revenge

Final Score: Pirates 6 Giants 7 in 12 innings

Why the Pirates Lost: A bullpen that is in complete disarray gave up two 2-run leads. The Pirates were leading 4-2 going into the bottom of the 6th inning. Isaac Mattson came in and quickly got knocked around, giving up 3 doubles wrapped around one out. The Giants tied the game 4-4. The Pirates scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th to take a 6-4 lead. Yohan Ramirez, with the ghost runner on 2nd base, struck out the first batter in the bottom of the 10th. He walked Rafael Devers to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Heliot Ramos hit a slow roller to short, and Konnor Griffin made a nice play to throw him out. This moved the runners up to 2nd and 3rd. Willy Adames wasted no time, hitting the first pitch into left field to drive in 2 runs to tie the game. The bullpen continues to blow games. The tale of the tape: Ramirez ERA 4.13, Mattson ERA 4.67, Dennis Santana ERA 3.63, Justin Lawrence ERA 6.46, Cam Sanders ERA 10.80. This was a game of disasters for the Pirates, with disastrous baserunning to go along with disastrous hitting. The Pirates were 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. The Pirates finish the road trip 3-3, but this still does not take the sting out of this loss. They gave another game away, plain and simple.

Key Moments Of The Game: Ryan Borucki got his revenge after being roughed up in the previous game. Yesterday, he entered the 11th inning with runners on 1st and 3rd and no outs. He struck out Oneil Cruz and then got Brandon Lowe to hit a soft liner to short while Henry Davis attempted to steal second. This resulted in an easy double play for the Giants. The reason Davis was running, only the Pirate “brain” trust would know. In the 12th inning, Borucki danced through the raindrops, finally loading the bases but managed to get Konnor Griffin to hit a soft liner to Matt Chapman, ending the inning. The Giants won in the 12th, sending the Pirates home defeated and securing the victory for Borucki.

Next game: Tuesday night, Rockies in Pittsburgh. The morning report will be late morning and early afternoon as I am headed to San Diego to watch a real franchise, the Padres. Paul Skenes will pitch for the Pirates on Tuesday, hoping to get the homestand off to a good start. The Pirates will play three games against the Rockies, and then the Phillies come in for the weekend. The Pirates just can’t seem to get on a roll. The bullpen is in trouble unless these guys start to pitch a lot better. There does not seem to be much help, but it would be nice to see Dotel come back up. Maybe the team will break out this week.

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Pirate Morning Report: Offense Erupts For 20 Hits

Final Score: Pirates 13 Giants 3

Why The Pirates Won: After a slow start, getting only two hits over the first four innings, the Pirates picked up 18 more hits over the last five innings to blow out the Giants 13 to 3. Joey Bart and Nick Gonzales led the way, each getting 4 hits. Brandon Lowe had 4 RBIs, and the Pirates were 10 for 22 with runners in scoring position. The Pirates were kings of the foul balls. I do not know how many they exactly hit, but they forced the Giants’ pitchers to throw 222 pitches for the game. It took Landen Roupp 94 pitches to get through 4 innings and one batter. No problem for Braxton Ashcraft as he tossed another 7-inning gem. He gave up 1 run on 6 hits. He struck out 6 and walked no one, throwing only 80 pitches. His ERA is now down to 2.77. I would be remiss if I did not mention Cam Sanders’ performance in the bottom of the 9th. The Giants had given up at that point, using a position player to pitch in the top of the 9th. The Pirates scored 3 runs to extend their lead to 13 to 1. Someone must have forgotten to tell Cam Sanders the score. In an embarrassing performance, he walked 3 batters, hit a batter in the head, and gave up 2 runs on 1 hit. He threw 34 pitches, with only 12 in the strike zone. This put his ERA at 10.80. This guy is on the team in a supposedly pitching-rich franchise. This was only comical because the Pirates won the game by 10 runs.

Key Moments of the Game: You would think a game like this would not have a key moment, but this was a tight game through six innings. The Pirates had taken a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning. Jung Hoo Lee opened the inning with a blooper to left field for a single. Luis Arraez hit another blooper that Konnor Griffin made a nice running catch on in short left field. Heliot Ramos singled to right, putting runners on first and third with one out. Ashcraft got the big strikeout against Rafael Devers on three pitches. He then got Bryce Eldridge, who had sent one into McCovey’s Cove in his previous at-bat, to fly out to rather deep left field. The Giants could help thinking what might have been. In the top of the seventh, the Pirates broke it open by scoring six runs. They were helped along by a line drive lost in the lights and an error by Willy Adames. The Pirates are assured of a .500 road trip, but it would be nice to go 4-2.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Giants, in San Francisco at 4:05 PM. Bubba Chandler will start for the Pirates; will he finally come out of his funk? The Pirates need him to get back on track. I am sure Joey Bart will be out of the lineup tonight, despite the fact that the Pirates have a day off, and Paul Skenes will pitch on Tuesday, meaning we will see Henry (No Hit) Davis for the next two games. Bart is red hot. If this is the case, he will not catch again until Wednesday, leaving plenty of time to cool off. The Pirates just continue to amaze. They will amaze me if Bart starts today. Let’s at least hope we don’t see Triolo.

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Pirates Morning Report: Offensive Problems and Bad Decisions

Final Score: Pirates 2 Giants 5

Why The Pirates Lost: The Pirates’ offense continues to have problems. In the last 5 games, they have scored 8 runs, with 4 in one game. In this game, they got five hits and eight walks but could only score 2 runs. Of course, they started 5 players who had OPSs of .600 or less. The league average is .712. The group went 2 for 15, with Marcell Ozuna getting both hits, including a home run in the 2nd inning. You could almost say they did better than expected. Carmen Mlodzinski pitched one of his better games, going 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits, walking none, and striking out one. Even though he had thrown only 73 pitches, the Pirate “brain” trust decided to take him out. It is May 8th. If an effective starter cannot throw 90 pitches or more by then, when can he? If Mlodzinski had gotten into trouble, then you could take him out. The bullpen is supposedly taxed, and you take your starter out after 73 pitches. One thing for sure, he could not have done worse than Justin Lawrence. In 10 pitches, the Giants scored a run on 3 hits to take a 3-1 lead. The Pirates waited until he hit a batter to load the bases before taking him out. The Giants added 2 more runs on a one-out single to make the score 5-1. The Pirates go to 2-2 on the road trip.

Key Moments Of The Game: Besides starting a pathetic lineup and not allowing Mlodzinski to throw more than 73 pitches, there were some actual key moments during the game. I should say more bad decisions were made during the game. Marcell Ozuna led off the 2nd with a home run to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Oneil Cruz singled on a 109 MPH line drive to left. On the very first pitch, with Cruz breaking on the pitch, Konnor Griffin ripped a 102 MPH line drive to left for another single. Even though he broke on the pitch, the ball was lined hard to left field. Then the ball got a nice big hop, so the left fielder was in a good position to make the throw. Cruz had the play right in front of him. He elected to go to third and was thrown out by 6 feet. Instead of having Robbie Ray on the ropes, the Pirates had a runner on 1st with one out. Joey Bart and Nick Yorke both failed to make any contact with the ball, so it might not have made any difference, but we will never know.

Next Game: Tonight, Giants in San Francisco, 9:05. It’s a little easier to follow the game tonight with a start a little over an hour earlier. Braxton Ashcraft is going for the Pirates tonight, coming off one of his best starts. The Pirates’ offense will need to perk up soon. Maybe Ozuna will finally go on a prolonged streak. Perhaps the Pirates will finally realize that Jared Triolo only hits in meaningless games and won’t start him anymore. Even though it is early, you feel that the Pirates are in a critical part of the season. They are teetering on the edge of really going on a hot streak or hitting a prolonged slump. If management does not get them some help, which is most likely, there are some players that are going to have to step up their game. We will see where we are by June 1st.

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Pirates Morning Report: A Solid Team Win

Final Score: Pirates 4 Diamondbacks 2

Why The Pirates Won: Mitch Keller had another good outing. He went 6+ innings, giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, walking 2 while striking out 4. The bullpen did the job despite the fact that Don Kelly ignored reverse splits. The Pirates, for some reason, just don’t pay attention to reverse splits, and it almost cost them. The Pirates went long twice, with Brandon Lowe and Joey Bart each hitting solo home runs. Don’t look now, but Bart is hitting .220 with a .619 OPS. Nothing to write home about, but when compared to Davis, who is banging the ball around at a .156 clip with a .526 OPS, he looks like Babe Ruth. It may be time to give Bart more playing time since the offense is sputtering a bit. The Pirates came up with the big hits when needed. Everybody contributed to this win, either with offense or defense.

Key Moments Of The Game. The score was 2-1 Diamondbacks going into the 5th inning. Zack Gallen was cruising along the first 4 innings. He gave up the 1st inning homer but after that, he had given up one hit, one walk, and hit a batter. In the top of the 5th, he got 2 outs on 9 pitches. Brandon Lowe hit a 103 MPH line drive single to right. Bryan Reynolds walked on a 3-2 pitch. Both Ryan O’Hearn and Spencer Horwitz were able to sneak ground balls through the right side of the infield, each driving in a run, and suddenly the Pirates were up 3-2. Two out lightening at its best. Joey Bart hit a 2-out home run in the top of the 6th to give the Pirates a 2 run cushion. Two out lightening struck again. Things were going pretty smoothly for Keller until the bottom of the 7th. He gave up a leadoff single. Kelly took him out for Dennis Santana. No problem there. Santana immediately induced Jose Fernandez to hit into a double play. Of course, he walked the next batter. He got a ground out to end the inning. In the bottom of the 8th, Mason Montgomery came on. He got one out then he walked a batter. He got Ketel Marte to pop out. Up stepped Corbin Carroll. Carroll is hitting over .400 against lefties and under .200 against righties. For whatever reason, Kelly left Montgomery in the game. Carroll singled to left. Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! He did bring Isaac Mattson in to face Nolan Arenado. Mattson did the job by striking him out. He should have faced Carroll. Gregory Soto came in and pitched an uneventful ninth to pick up his 2nd save in as many days. The Pirates head to San Francisco 2-1 on the road trip.

Next Game: Tonight, Giants in San Francisco, 10:15. Carmen Mlodzinski goes for the Pirates tonight. Once again, the Pirates are not going to use an opener, even though it was Mlodzinski’s best performance when he pitched from the 2nd through the 7th innings. You have to wonder what’s wrong with them. He got hit hard in his last outing, giving up 5 runs in 5 and 2/3 innings. Of course, that was the game where the Pirates scored 17 runs. Will the Pirates be able to take advantage of the Giants, who have been struggling? They will be starting two of their weak links in the rotation in this series. The bats came a little alive last night; they may have to go into full throttle mode if the Pirates are going to take 2 of 3.

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Pirates Morning Report: Yes, I Would Say Skenes Bounced Back

Final Score: Pirates 1 Diamondbacks 0

Why The Pirates Won: Paul Skenes pitched an 8-inning gem. He gave up 2 hits, both in the same inning. He retired the Diamondbacks in order in 7 of the 8 innings as he issued no walks. Are you watching, Bubba? He struck out 7 batters, including the last 3 he faced in the 8th inning. Gregory Soto came in to pitch the bottom of the 9th. Of course, he had to make it interesting by walking the 2nd batter. He got Ketel Marte to pop up to short right field, where Billy Cook made a staggering catch. Corbin Carroll, who is hitting over .400 against lefties, hit a sharp ground ball right down the first base line. Ryan O’Hearn was holding the runner and easily made the play to end the game. All of this great pitching overcame a lot of poor at-bats for the Pirates. They were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left 8 men on base. The Pirates have scored 1 run in two games, yet the series is tied at a game apiece. Thank you, Paul Skenes.

Key Moments Of The Game: These would have been big key moments if the Pirates had lost. An opening triple by Spencer Horwitz was wasted in the 2nd inning. Konnor Griffin had a bad at-bat, taking a pitch for a strike and swinging at two out of the strike zone, striking out on three pitches. Henry (Pop Up King) Davis miraculously drew a walk. Oneil Cruz hit a ground ball that Davis and Horwitz turned into a double play with little league baserunner. Let me correct that. T ball baserunning, my apologies to the little league players. In the top of the 7th, the Pirates had another golden opportunity to get some breathing room. Konnor Griffin singled to center field and stole second. Henry (I Can’t Bunt Either) Davis popped up, not moving the runner. Then the Diamondbacks balked, sending Griffin to third anyway. Cruz hit a ground ball to second, and Marte made a nice play to throw Griffin out at the plate. Cruz stole second, but Brandon Lowe, who homered in the 1st to account for the only run of the game, flied out to end the inning. The Diamondbacks had one opportunity to score and came close to doing it. With two outs in the bottom of the 5th, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had a swinging bunt single for the first hit of the game. Nolan Arenado took the first pitch and drilled it into left field for a base hit, with Gurriel moving to second. Gabriel Moreno took a high outside 0-2 pitch and lined it out to right field, but Ryan O’Hearn corralled it in. The Diamondbacks never threatened again.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Diamondbacks in Arizona at 3:40 PM. Mitch Keller goes for the Pirates in the rubber match today. The Pirates’ offense will be looking for a bounce-back game to see if they can get back into the groove they had with the Reds. The Pirates have scored 2 runs in 3 games but have managed to win 2 of them. Maybe they will break out today. All teams go through slumps because, as we all know, hitting can be inconsistent. The fact that the Pirates are experiencing this and yet have won 2 out of 3 games is an encouraging sign. I don’t know about you, but I am encouraged enough. Let’s score some runs, Buccos.

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Pirates Morning Report: Diamondbacks Double Their Pleasure

Final Score: Pirates 0 Diamondbacks 9

Why the Pirates lost: Bubba Chandler had another frustrating start. Yohan Ramirez reverted back to his career ways. The bats were silent, getting only two hits for the game. Bubba Chandler gave up two runs in the first but should have only given up one. Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz let a fly ball go between them. It seemed like Reynolds should have caught the ball, but for some reason, he backed off. This allowed the Diamondbacks to score the second run of the inning. Chandler did not allow another run but walked six batters in five innings, throwing 92 pitches. Somehow, Chandler has got to start getting the ball over the plate. Ramirez came in during the bottom of the sixth. After getting the first out, his outing turned into a disaster. Here was the sequence that broke open the game: he walked a batter, hit a batter, gave up a double, hit another batter, and gave up another double to make the score 5-0. Both doubles were not hit hard, but they were on a line and well placed. Two more runs scored on a ground ball and a sacrifice fly as the Diamondbacks broke open the game, 7-0. The Diamondbacks had 4 doubles and a triple for the game.

Key Moments of the Game: The Pirate batters looked awful against Eduardo Rodriguez. They managed to have seven at-bats with runners in scoring position but failed to get a hit. The first inning set the tone for the game. Geraldo Perdomo made a nice over-the-shoulder catch on a little blooper by Oneil Cruz to open the game. In the bottom of the first, the Pirates had the outfield mishap that allowed an extra run to score. The Pirates could not muster any offense, and when the bullpen collapsed, this game was over. It was not a great start to the road trip.

Next Game: Tonight Diamondbacks in Arizona at 9:40. Paul Skenes is going for the Pirates tonight. This is something you don’t say very often, but he is looking for a bounce back start. The same thing could be said for the offense. There has to be at least a little bit of concern over the Pirate pitching which was supposed to be the strength of this team. Last night was the 10th game out of 36, and 9th out of the last 21, that the Pirates have given up 6 or more runs. Is it because of an adjustment period to a new pitching coach? Is it just a bad stretch that part of every team goes through. The biggest concern is if it continues, management won’t do much to stop the bleeding. No matter what the problem is here, this staff needs to find the answer and find it fast.