Tag: Pittsburgh Pirates.

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Pirates Morning Report: The Mysterious Ways Of The Pirates

The Pirates stand at 38-37. They are one game out of a wild card spot. Most of the season, they have been hovering around 2 to 4 games above .500. There are lots of good things to say about the Pirates; they are one of the better scoring clubs. They have had bullpen issues, and even their starting pitching has had some problems. We are just 6 games short of reaching the halfway point of the season. You would think the Pirates would have a handle on which players are performing well and which players are not. You would think that they would know by now the best way for certain players to help the team. They should know who the best performers on the team are. They must not be watching the same performances that I am. Let’s look at 3 players who are not being given a chance to perform or are not being used in the best way.

Jake Mangum seems to be a fan favorite. He just has that fan appeal. He hustles, he looks good in the field, and he seems to be a good hitter. When you look at the stats, he is not as good as it would seem, at least the way the Pirates use him. He should be leading off every time he is in the starting lineup. The Pirates usually bat him 7th or 8th. His slash line is .296/.330/.368. With that horrendous slugging percentage, his OPS is .694, which is below league average. He is just an average fielding outfielder. There is a statistic called total runners scored by a batter. In other words, when you come up with men on base, what percentage of those runners are you responsible for scoring? Mangum is one of the worst performers on the team. He is responsible for 10.2% of runners scoring. The only one worse on the team is Jared Triolo at 8.8%. Even Henry Davis, with his pathetic .138 batting average, is better at 11.6%. The middle of the Pirate order averages somewhere between 17% and 20%, with Bryan Reynolds being the leader at 20%. That statistic alone should make Mangum a lead-off hitter because you are going to guarantee that, at least once a game, he is going to come up with the bases empty. Leading off, he would have more opportunities to bat and steal bases, which he is quite good at, stealing 13 bases on 15 attempts for an 87% success rate. Leading off minimizes his lack of slugging. Besides Konnor Griffin, who has only led off once; Jake Mangum is the obvious choice to lead off the game. Obvious to everyone but the Pirates.

Next, we have Marcell Ozuna. I was not pleased when they signed him to do nothing but DH for 12 million bucks. He got off to a horrible start. Everyone was saying he is too old. He cannot catch up with the fastball anymore. You know the Pirates are not going to dump him with that salary. But hey, wait a minute. In the last 11 games that he has DH’d, he has not done too bad. He is hitting .268 with 1 home run and 8 RBIs. There is just one problem: it has taken 26 games for him to play in those 11 games. In that same stretch, Jared Triolo has played 22 games. Henry Davis has played in 12 games. In those games Triolo is batting .208 with 0 home runs and 4 RBIs, and Henry Davis is hitting .142 but has managed 3 home runs and 9 RBIs. The only criticism you could say about Ozuna is he has only walked once, which puts his OBP at .285. You’re paying this guy 12 million to DH. He needs to have his final run. He should DH the next 10 to 14 games, batting 6th or 7th in the lineup. If he cannot sustain what he has done the last 11 games, then he should be cut. This guy has hit his entire career and hit for power. This offense is good, but it would be better if Ozuna can find his stroke. I am not too sure the Pirates understand this. Again, are they paying attention to what really is going on during these games?

The most mysterious case of all is that of Isaac Matson. With the Pirate bullpen ranked 24th in all of baseball, the Pirates have lost faith in Matson for no apparent reason. He had a horrible opening day, much like Paul Skenes. Not quite as bad, but he walked off the mound that day with an ERA over 10. In the next 32 games, he made 16 appearances. In the first 15, he pitched 15 and 1/3 innings, giving up no runs on 9 hits. On his 17th appearance, he gave up 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning. In the next 15 games, he only appeared 4 times. Three were good outings, and one was not. The Pirates sent him down, and even when brought back up, he has not been used that much. Even with those bad outings, here is how he compares to current bullpen members and one former bullpen member when he was sent down. We are going to use ERA+ the comparison stat where league average is 100, and FIP, which is the things that pitchers can control: home runs, walks, and strikeouts. Matson, at the moment, has an ERA+ of 106 and a FIP of 3.82. Dennis Santana has an ERA+ of 96 and a FIP of 4.46. Yohan Ramirez has an ERA+ of 102 and a FIP of 4.32. Mason Montgomery has an ERA+ of104 and FIP of 3.52. Brandan Bidois has an ERA+ of 85 and a FIP of 6.95. When Matson was sent down, Justin Lawrence was still on the team with an ERA+ of 82 and a FIP of 5.37. Matson’s ERA+ is better than any of those players who are continuing to be used often. Only Mason Montgomery has a better FIP by 0.30. When Matson was sent down, the robotic Pirate broadcast booth said he was sent down to get right. If that is true, the Pirates need to send down 4 others to get right by my calculations. Instead, they continue to put those players in key situations to lose games. If I were Matson, I would ask to be traded. I’m not too sure that the Pirates are going to wake up and start to use Matson like they did in the early part of the season.

The other mysteries of the Pirates are that, for the most part, they continue to ignore reverse splits. Billy Cook has been on the Pirates for 55 games. In those 55 games, he has made 22 plate appearances. In this day and age, where teams carry only 13 position players, why is he on the team? It is like the Pirates are carrying just 12. You have heard of the designated hitter. The Pirates have the designated cheerleader. They do not have pitchers warming up in the bullpen at the start of an inning in a tight ballgame late in the game. The Pirates have one of the best percentages of successful stolen bases, but yet remain fairly conservative when attempting to steal. When you look at how the Pirates front office has performed from a strategic standpoint, you have to wonder how in the hell this team is one game over .500. This morning, I wake up to find that the Pirates traded Joey Bart to the Atlanta Braves for Hunter Stratton, who they DFA’d. He is going to AAA. If I were Isaac Matson, I would be packing my bags. Don’t worry, Brandon Bidois, with your 6.95 FIP, you are safe.

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Pirates Morning Report: Top Of The Order Coming Back Strong

Final Score: Pirates 12 A’s 4

Why The Pirates Won: About 3 games ago, the 1, 2, and 4 hitters went 0 for 14 with 9 strikeouts. Last night, those same hitters went 6 for 11 with 1 home run, 2 doubles, 9 RBIs, and zero strikeouts. Ryan O’Hearn led the way, going 3 for 5 with a home run and 6 runs batted in. The Pirates returned the favor to the A’s, blowing them out and taking the series. Braxton Ashcraft pitched a good 6 innings, giving up 2 runs, only 1 earned, on 3 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 7 while throwing 93 pitches. The bullpen gave up a couple of solo home runs but never really let the A’s back in the game. It was a nice, easy win for the Pirates.

Key Moments In The Game: The Pirates set the tone early on both sides of the ball, something they have not done in a long time. They opened the game with three doubles and a walk to take a 3-0 lead. In the second inning, they put together a single, a double, and two more singles to extend the lead to 5-0. Ashcraft started out just as hot, not allowing a hit through the first 13 batters he faced. The Pirates added two runs in the fourth to make it 7-0. The A’s cut the lead to five in the sixth inning. The Pirates exploded for five runs in the top of the seventh, all started by a leadoff homer by Marcell Ozuna. More on him tomorrow. The Pirates head to Colorado with their first series win in the last four.

Next game: Tomorrow night, Rockies in Colorado. The Rockies are 19 games under .500. You have to feel the Pirates must take at least 2 out of 3. It is always a little scary when you play a team that is doing poorly. This is also the site of one of the worst losses in Pirate history when they lost to the Rockies 17 to 16 after they had a 9 or 10 run lead. I admit I did not look it up; it is just too painful. Tomorrow, I will have some random thoughts on these Pittsburgh Pirates as they continue to fight for a playoff spot.

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Pirates Morning Report: Reynolds On Fire

Final Score: Pirates 6 A’s 5

Why The Pirates Won: The Pirates survived a horrible 1st inning, giving up 4 runs on just 2 hits. Bryan Reynolds hit 2 home runs, driving in 3 runs to top off a 4 for 5 night. His second home run came with 2 outs in the top of the 7th to tie the game at 5-5. In the top of the 9th, the slumping Brandon Lowe, with a .224 on-base percentage over the last 15 games, lined a home run way over the right field fence to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead. After the shaky first inning, where he walked the bases loaded, Mitch Keller pitched a decent 5 and 1/3 innings. He gave up one more run on a home run. After the 1st, he gave up 3 hits, striking out 7 and just walking one. The bullpen, shaky as ever, somehow, someway did not give up any runs, enabling the Pirates to eke out an unexpected 6-5 win.

Key Moments Of The Game: Bryan Reynolds and Brandon Lowe hit the big home runs accounting for 4 of the Pirates’ 6 runs. Needless to say, it was the Pirates’ bullpen that had the key moments. In the top of the 7th, the A’s opened the inning with a double. Evan Sisk struck out Nick Kurtz. The Pirates decided to bring in Yohan (How Many Outs Are There) Ramirez. He promptly wild-pitched the runner to third. Alika Williams did not go on contact with one out and did not score on a ground out to the shortstop. One intentional walk later, Jacob Wilson grounded into a force out to end the inning. Mason Williams came in to pitch the 8th and went strikeout, walk, strikeout, and strikeout. The bottom of the 9th got really scary. Gregory Soto got the first out with a strikeout. The A’s got two singles in a row to put runners on 1st and 2nd. This brought up Tyler Soderstrom. He almost got hit by the first two pitches. The third pitch was even inside to make the count 3-0. He took the next 3 pitches for strikes. He challenged one, but they were all strikes. First and second with one out in the bottom of the 9th and he does not swing at 3 straight pitches in the strike zone. Right away, Ben Cherington thought he might be a good acquisition for the Pirates. Jacob Wilson swung at a pitch way high and outside on an 0-2 count and lined it right to Jake Mangum to end the game. The Pirates are back to .500.

Next Game: Tonight, A’s in Sacramento. This will be the rubber match of the series. After five innings last night that looked like it would be impossible. Braxton Ashcraft will go for the Pirates. He has had two shaky starts in a row. Keller, after that bad first inning, kept the A’s basically in check. Ashcraft needs to do the same thing, which is no small task. The Pirates have won only three of their last eleven games. All three wins were by one run, and two were big comeback wins, coming back from five and four run deficits. The Pirates could have easily lost eleven in a row. If this team ever starts pitching again and somehow makes the playoffs, this stretch of games will be the ones to remember.

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Pirates Morning Report: Bludgeoned In Sacramento

Final Score: Pirates 2 Athletics 11

Why the Pirates Lost: The dynamic duo of Jared Jones and Camen Mlodzinski gave up 11 runs on a whopping 15 hits, walking 2 and striking out 6. Only 1 of Mlodzinski’s 6 runs were earned, but that was because all 5 runs in the 7th scored after 2 were out. It took Jones and Mlodzinski 75 pitches each to get through 7 innings. Looks like the Pirates have a 6-man rotation whether they want it or not. We won’t be seeing either pitcher for the next 4 games. We will see how the Pirates get along with an 11 man pitching staff the next 4 games. Great system, Pirates. The A’s were 7 for 13 with runners in scoring position. They hit 3 home runs and 3 doubles in their collection of 15 hits. The Pirates could only manage 2 runs despite getting 8 hits and walking 3 times. They were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, leaving 9 men on base. The Pirates finally fell below .500 for the first time since the 5th game of the season. They did it in a big way. Maybe we can blame it on jet lag.

Key Moments Of The Game: Jeff McNeil, who started the game on a 0 for 20 streak, got the big hits early in the game. In the bottom of the 2nd, with a runner on 2nd and one out, he singled in the first run of the game. In the bottom of the 1st, the A’s had loaded the bases on 3 singles when Jones struck out the side. This got the A’s quickly off the schneid. After the McNeil single, Nick Kurtz hit an opposite-field home run to make it 3-0 A’s. In the top of the 4th, it looked like the Pirates might climb back into this one. Nick Gonzales started the inning by reaching base on an error. Endy Rodriguez followed with a single. Tyler Callihan hit a weak ground ball to first, moving the runners up. Jake Mangum hit a little 68 MPH blooper that scored a run. The Pirates had runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Esmerlyn Valdez then hit into a 1-4-3 double play, with McNeil making a great throw to second, just getting Valdez in time. In the bottom of the inning, McNeil broke open the game, hitting a 2-run homer. It was only his 3rd home run of the season.

Next Game: Tonight, the A’s in Sacramento. Mitch Keller goes for the Pirates. In his last 3 games he has gone 12 and 2/3 innings giving up 18 earned runs on 24 hits. He did this throwing 274 pitches. The fact that he was allowed to throw this many pitches is mind boggling. He is giving up almost 1.5 runs per inning pitched. There is not any word that he has any physical ailment. He is going up against one of the best hitting teams in baseball. They have the 3rd highest OPS in baseball. Maybe Keller will have a Jeff McNeil night. We can only hope.

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Pirates Morning Report: How To Ruin A Great Perfomance

Final Score: Pirates 2 Braves 3

Why The Pirates Lost: Bubba Chandler pitched 5 and 1/3 innings of great ball only to be ruined by his old problem of not being able to throw the ball over the plate. After a questionable error was charged to Tyler Callihan, Chandler struck out Austin Riley on 3 pitches. Then he just seemed to lose it. Eight straight balls later, the bases were loaded. This is where Don Kelly lost the game. The bases are loaded. You are ahead by two runs in the bottom of the 7th. This is about as high-leverage as you can get. Who does he bring in? Mr. Low Leverage, Evan Sisk. Gregory Soto or Wilber Dotel should have been brought in. It is tough to do that when you don’t have anybody warming up at the start of the inning or even after the error. Michael Harris hits right and left-handed pitching about the same. Either pitcher could have been used. Harris hit the big double on Sisk’s second pitch, a 90 MPH sinker right down the middle, to clear the bases and give the Braves a 3-2 lead. Spencer Horwitz hit an opening home run for the first Pirate run. Nick Gonzales hit into a double play with the bases loaded for the second run that Matt Capps called a productive out. REALLY? By the way, dunce Capps, you should have used the plural, outs. The Pirates could only get 5 hits for the entire game, and two of those did not leave the infield. Atlanta shut down this offense for the 3rd day in a row.

Key Moments Of The Game: Even though Don Kelly went brain dead in the 7th, the Pirates had their chances to tie the game in the 8th and 9th. The Pirates put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out in the top of the 8th. Endy Rodriguez singled, and Horwitz walked. Nick Gonzales hit a weak blooper to the shortstop. Bryan Reynolds walked to load the bases. Ryan O’Hearn worked the count to 3 and 2. He took an up and away slider and rolled it over, grounding out to 1st. In the top of the 9th, Brandon Lowe led off with a double. This is where the Pirate batters went into Bubba mode and totally lost control of the strike zone. Tyler Callihan struck out on 3 pitches, two of which were out of the strike zone. Jake Mangum swung at 4 balls out of the strike zone but managed to hit a chopper over the head of the pitcher, putting runners on 1st and 3rd with one out. Jared (I Wish I Could Hit) Triolo didn’t swing at anything outside the strike zone but popped up a ball that was right down the middle. Endy Rodriguez struck out to end the game on a pitch that almost hit him. The Pirates end the road trip 2-4. Not a disaster, but the blown game in Houston really stands out now. Back home to face the big bad Dodgers.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, Dodgers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates did receive good news about Brandon Lowe yesterday, and even he had a pinch-hit double. Hopefully, Konnor Griffin can return soon to get Triolo off the field. The Pirates brought up somebody yesterday by the name of Davis Wendzel. He has had 47 at-bats in his career and has a slash line of .128/.163/.234. His minor league stats are better, but I still think they brought him up just to make Henry Davis feel better. He won’t be the worst hitter on the team, let alone in all of baseball. You have to feel that the Pirates have to take 2 of 3 from the Dodgers to get back on track. Despite all of this, the Pirates are only 0.5 games out of the wild card.

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Pirates Morning Report: Watching A Great Bullpen

Final Score: Pirates 3 Braves 6

Why The Pirates Lost: Mitch Keller had his 2nd straight horrific start. In the last 8 and 2/3 innings, Keller has given up 13 earned runs on 17 hits and 4 walks. In this game, he walked 3, and 2 of them came around to score. The Braves’ starter, Martin Perez, went 5 innings and gave up 3 runs on 3 hits, walking 2. The Braves’ bullpen then took over. In the last 4 innings, they held the Pirates to 1 hit and a walk. The last 3 relievers the Braves put out there had ERAs of 1.21, 0.63, and 0.92. The Pirate bullpen did not give up a run either, but they have a tendency to do that when there is no lead to protect. The last 2 Pirate relievers had ERAs of 5.26 and 3.97. You can see why the Pirates are now 9 games behind the Atlanta Braves.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates picked up their 3 runs in the top of the third, highlighted by a big 2-out single by Marcell Ozuna to take a 3-1 lead at the time. In the bottom of the 3rd, Keller got the first out of the inning. He walked Ozzie Albies on 5 pitches, with the 4 balls not even close. This brought up Mauricio Dubon. Keller was ahead in the count, 1 ball and 2 strikes. Dubon chased pitches 4 and 5 well out of the strike zone to foul them off. He then threw a curveball right down the middle of the plate. RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. Naturally, Dubon crushed it into the left field seats, 405 feet, to tie the game. Did he not notice that this guy was chasing badly? Apparently not. All the momentum the Pirates had just evaporated. In the bottom of the 5th, the Braves were hitting rockets off Keller, but manager Don Kelly did not care. 108, 105, 98, 97, 92, and finally 100 miles per hour. All were either doubles or singles, with the exception of the 98 MPH flyout and the 92 MPH sacrifice fly. He was allowed to face 6 batters, getting only 2 outs. Why he was not taken out after the second single, I will never know. He had not pitched well for the first 4 innings, but the shellacking he took in the fifth must have surprised Don Kelly. By the time the Pirates got someone ready in the bullpen it was too late. The Braves bullpen went into shutdown mode, and the Pirates did not get a runner on base until the top of the 9th. The Pirates start out 0-1 against the elite.

Next Game: This afternoon, the Braves, in Atlanta. Braxton Ashcraft will go for the Pirates. Maybe he will be able to shut down the potent Braves offense. Will the Pirate offense be able to overcome the Braves bullpen? Marcell Ozuna had a decent game last night. It is time for the Pirates to give him one last chance. Play him for the next eight games. If he turns it around and actually gets hot, it will be worth it. If not, it is time to eat the rest of his contract. The Pirates need to win at least one of these next two games, and right now, it does not look good.

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Pirates Morning Report: Dancing Through The Raindrops

Final Score: Pirates 5 Astros 1

Why The Pirates Won: Jared Jones and Carmen Mlodzinski combined to limit the Astros to 1 run on 8 hits, walking 2 and striking out 7. It wasn’t easy. The Astros put a man on base in every inning but the 8th. They were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and left 8 men on base. Their only run scored on a home run by Isaac Paredes off Mlodzinski to start the 6th inning. The Pirates’ offense had a big 4-run 6th inning highlighted by a 2-run home run by Ryan O’Hearn, who drove in a run in the first inning. This wasn’t the reason they won, but doesn’t Oneil Cruz look more comfortable at the plate now that he is no longer leading off? In his last 7 games, his slash line is .364/.548/.773, with 3 home runs and 9 RBIs. You have to wonder who was the guy that thought he should be a leadoff hitter and why he still has a job. The Pirates won a series that should have been a sweep as they now head into the eye of the storm.

Key Moments Of The Game: After having his shaky opening start, Jared Jones got off to an unlucky rocky start in this game. Jeremy Peña got a swinging bunt single where Jones almost made a spectacular play. It looked like he may have hurt himself somehow. Then he walked Yordan Alvarez on four pitches. He threw two more balls to Christian Walker but came back to not only strike him out but the next two batters as well. He worked out of various situations in the next four innings without giving up a run. He overcame a weird balk where he wound up instead of pitching from the stretch with a runner on first. He gave up two-out doubles in the fourth and the fifth, but the Astros could not score. Mlodzinski, not wanting to be outdone, worked out of a real jam in the seventh. He gave up two singles to put runners on first and second with one out. This brought up the dangerous Yordan Alvarez to the plate. Up to this point in the series, he was seven for eleven with a home run and five RBIs with two walks. Mlodzinski fell behind 2-0. He threw a rising fastball letter-high right down the middle that Alvarez could only lift to a fly ball out to left field. A big sigh of relief was seen by the entire Pirates team. Christian Walker hit a ground ball to the left of second base that Brandon Lowe made a nice play to end the inning. Mlodzinski got the first three up, three down inning in the eighth. A double play ball ended the game to give the Pirates the series win.

Next Game: Tonight, Braves, in Atlanta. The Pirates begin their stretch of six games against the two best teams in the National League: three games in Atlanta and three games at home against the Dodgers. Can the Pirates win three out of six against the big boys? Tonight, they are going up against former Pirate Martin Pérez, who is pitching quite well for the Braves. His splits against right- and left-handed batters are about the same. We will see what kind of lineup the Pirates will send up against him. Let’s hope it’s not the same guy who thought Oneil Cruz should lead off.

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Pirates Morning Report: Total Bullpen Collapse

Final Score: Pirates 9 Astros 11

Why The Pirates Lost: Forget about two out lightning. This was a two-out tsunami. The Pirates were leading 9-5 going into the bottom of the 8th. Mason Montgomery started the inning. He struck out the first two batters. The Astros, from that point, were able to put 8 consecutive batters on base. They scored 6 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks to take an 11-9 lead. Essentially, the tsunami destroyed Mason Montgomery and Gregory Soto. This was all preceded by another great day by the offense. Henry (Automatic Out) Davis hit a grand slam home run. Nick Gonzales hit his 2nd home run of the year and drove in 3 runs. The Pirates put up 9 runs on the board, but it was not enough. Paul Skenes did his Bubba Chandler impression, taking a whopping 109 pitches to get through 4 and 2/3 innings. He gave up 3 runs on 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 7. He is in a bit of a funk right now. It happens to everybody, but hopefully he will come out of it soon. One of the worst parts of this game was that it took 3 hours and 42 minutes to play. It was a slow, painful death for this bullpen. Despite what the Pirates broadcast booth says, the Pirate management has really done nothing to try and solve the bullpen problem. The bullpen has not only performed badly but has been mismanaged. They went too long with Yohan Ramirez, and he gave up a two-run homer on his 37th pitch. Why wasn’t Evan Sisk brought in for the 8th inning? He had not pitched since Saturday. The way things are right now, the bullpen will be the reason the Pirates do not make the playoffs.

Key Moments Of The Game: This was a game of 2-out run scoring. Henry Davis’s grand slam came with two outs. The Astros scored 10 of their 11 runs after two were out. It was only fitting that the Astros tied the game on a wild pitch by Soto. In the bottom of the 5th, the Astros opened the inning with two singles. Skenes struck out the next two batters. For the second game in a row for Skenes, Don Kelly came out to the mound to talk to Skenes. For the second time in a row, the next batter got a hit. Just stay on the bench, Kelly; you are disturbing the guy’s rhythm. He just got through striking out two batters. If you’re not taking him out, what are you going out for? Skenes knows more about pitching than you will ever know. All you did was throw him off his game two games in a row.

Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Houston. Jared Jones will be making his second start of the season. I guess the plan is to piggyback him with Carmen Mlodzinski. Maybe it would have been better to abandon that plan and bring Mlodzinski in last night. What do you think? Last night was nothing new. The Pirates have been giving away games all year. It does not look like anything is being done to stop it either. Crucial game tonight as the Pirates will be heading to Atlanta. The Pirates are heading for a stretch of six games where they will be playing against the big boys. The Dodgers and the Braves have no trouble accepting gifts.

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Pirates Morning Report: Pirates Climb Into Second Place

Final Score: Pirates 10 Astros 6

Why the Pirates Won: The hitters took over again, scoring 10 runs with Endy Rodriguez, Oneil Cruz, and Brandon Lowe all hitting a home run and driving in 3 runs each. For the game, the team scored 10 runs on 13 hits to go along with 8 walks. Bubba Chandler, for the third consecutive game, took over 90 pitches to go 5 innings. Again, control was the problem. His first two pitches of the game were right down the middle and were hit for a single and a home run. In the bottom of the 3rd, he threw 11 straight pitches out of the strike zone. The Astros swung at 2 of them. He did pitch a strong 5th, retiring the side in order. Wilber Dotel pitched another strong 3 innings, giving up no hits, walking 2, and striking out 3. Unfortunately, Dennis Santana crapped the bed again, getting only one out and giving up 2 runs to raise his ERA to 5.47. This forced the Pirates to use their closer, Gregory Soto, in a game they led 10-4 going into the bottom of the 9th. They find themselves in 2nd place today thanks to this 4-game win streak.

Key Moments Of The Game: It was in the bottom of the 3rd that the Astros scored their 3rd run on an error, walk, and single. They had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs and had a 3-2 lead. After a pop out, Chandler threw a wild pitch, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. The Astros had an excellent opportunity to add to their lead. Chandler bore down and struck out the next batter. Cam Smith hit a hard ground ball, but it was right at Jared Triolo, and the inning was over. In the bottom of the 4th, after one out, the Astros put together two singles to put runners on 1st and 3rd. Christian Vazquez, on 1st, made a huge base running blunder. On a line drive to left field that Bryan Reynolds trapped, Vazquez was confused and did not go to second base. For some strange reason, he thought that Bryan Reynolds had caught the ball. The throw was to home plate, and he still did not go to second base. Endy Rodriguez easily threw him out at 2nd base on a force out. Yordan Alvarez swung at the first pitch and flied out to left field, ending the inning with the Astros scoring only one run. In the first 5 innings, the Pirates had hit into 3 double plays. In the top of the sixth, they decided that enough is enough. They opened the inning with a walk and a single. Oneil Cruz belted a no-doubter into right field, and before you say the Mike Burrows trade was fantastic, the Pirates had a 5-4 lead. Endy Rodriguez, who had his best game of the season, walked, stole second, and scored when Jake Mangum’s bunt single was thrown away. This gave the Pirates a 6-4 lead. Lowe hit a 3-run homer in the 8th to give the Pirates a nice cushion.

Next Game: Tonight, Astros in Houston. You do not see this very often. Paul Skenes is going tonight for the Pirates. He is going up against a pitcher by the name of Spencer Arrighetti. In 8 starts, he has an ERA of 1.34, which is over 1 run less than Skenes’ 2.89. Over the last two years, in 35 starts, his ERA has been just under 5. Maybe the law of averages will catch up with him tonight. With Skenes pitching, we will see Henry Davis in the lineup. That’s a damn shame. Already, Arrighetti has an automatic out in the lineup. We will see if the Pirates can tie their longest winning streak of the season at 5. Will the Pirates ever use Ozuna again? Let’s hope it is not tonight.

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Pirates Morning Report: At The 60 Game Mark

Since the last report, the Pirates have played 25 games, winning 13. Their record stands at 32-28, which would put them on pace to win 86 games. Over the last 25 games, the offense continues to get better, while the pitching and defense have gotten worse. There is no question that the biggest overall disappointment this season has been the pitching staff. Last year, this team was 5th in all of baseball in run prevention, allowing just under 4 runs per game at 3.98 runs per game. This year, the Pirates have allowed 4.5 runs per game, which puts them 14th in the league. Last year’s pitching staff had an ERA of 3.76, ranking them 7th in the league. This year, they are currently 12th at 3.91. Even though their FIP has improved, they are ranked 8th because every other team is pitching better. Last year, they were 3rd in the league in FIP. Last year, they were 4th in WHIP, and now they are 10th. Last year, they converted 58% of their save opportunities. Not that great, but a lot better than the 48% that they are currently achieving, which is better than the abysmal 38% they had during the first 35 games. They are still 28th in the league in save percentage. If this team could have pitched like they did last year, they would be in first place. It is hard to say what the problem is. Everyone seems to be healthy, but everyone has declined, with few exceptions. Braxton Ashcraft is having the best year so far. Carmen Mlodzinski showed improvement as a starter; now he is heading for the bullpen, which he is not happy about, but it looks like things have been straightened out for the time being. Bubba Chandler cannot find the plate, and the coaching staff can’t seem to identify and correct the problem. Will Jared Jones return to his old form without giving up a ton of home runs? What once looked like the real strength of this team seems to be the one thing that is going to keep this team from making the playoffs. There seems to be no concern from the Pirates; there certainly is no hint of any help on the way via trade or even call-ups. The bullpen seems completely inept now, ranking 20th in baseball but has been ranked as low as 25th. The defense has dropped from 9th to 15th, which is just below league average, but nobody thought going into this season that this was going to be a great defensive team. You could blame some of the run prevention problems on a declining defense, but it can hardly explain the entire reason that the pitching staff has taken such a step backward. We are about 40% into the season, and the Pirates’ management seems to be doing what they do best, which is nothing.

The offense, on the other hand, is soaring. They are 5th in runs scored, 3rd in on-base percentage, and 5th in OPS, all up from the 35-game mark. They are hitting home runs and slugging better than they were in the first 35 games. They have 8 players that are over the league average in OPS; last year, they had 2. This is all well and good for the moment. As we all know, hitting can be a sometime thing. Even this year, this team has been shut out 6 times. The horrible offense from last year was shut out 9 times at this point in the season. The Konnor Griffin injury, to me, is a bit worrisome. Hopefully, he will be back in the lineup when the Pirates return home. The Pirate position players, with one exception, are ranked according to WAR from 3rd to 17th. The outfield over all is ranked 10th. Last year the Pirate outfield was ranked 27th. We still have the worst DH, and our catching dropped a spot to 26th. With the bullpen ranked 20th, it is obvious where this team’s weaknesses are. It looks to me that the Pirates are just going to have to overcome these weaknesses. The Pirates’ front office is not going to make the hard decisions to DFA certain players. This team is on pace for 86 wins. I thought they would win 92 games; I based this on the pitching staff’s performance last year, with absolutely no offensive help. If the pitching does not improve soon or no new blood is infused into the bullpen, I doubt that this team will finish above .500. The only good news about that is, it will be the end of the horrific Ben Cherrington Era.