Tag: Put your best reliever in when the game is on the line duh

Final Score: Pirates 4 Marlins 6

Why The Pirates Lost: It was another epic bullpen failure. Duari Moreta faced 3 batters in the bottom of the 8th and did not retire one. To the first and third batter he threw 5 consecutive sliders and the 5th one in each at bat resulted in a double and a single. He threw 15 pitches and 13 of them were sliders. What kind of pitch sequencing is that? The Pirates brought in rookie Carmen Mlodzinski with the bases loaded and nobody out. Not the best position to put a rookie in. He quickly gave up a single on his very first pitch. He got a ground out on the next batter which advanced the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Garret Cooper hit the first pitch, which was about 6 inches above the ankles, for a 3 run homer and in the blink of an eye, the score went from 4-1 Pirates to 6-4 Marlins. The Pirates did not threaten in the top of the 9th, sending the Pirates to their 10 straight defeat. Until the bottom of the 8th there was so much to like about this game. Mitch Keller pitched a strong 7 innings to shut up the morons on Twitter that say he is back to his 2022 form. Henry Davis hit his first career home run to stretch the lead to 3-1. But in the end, the Pirates went down to defeat again.

Key Moment Of The Game: The decision to bring Mlodzinski in with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th. Why not bring David Bednar in? This was the high leverage moment of the game. He would not have to pitch the 9th unless he got out of the jam on just a few pitches. When will teams ever get over this closer mentality. I am not saying that closing is not important but with the game on the line, shouldn’t you want your best reliever in the game. If it did take him a lot of pitches and even if he gave up 1 run, then take your chances and bring someone else in to pitch the 9th. This is progressive thinking. Something the Pirates do not seem to be familiar with.

The Next Game: Tonight, Marlins in Miami. After my blog rant of yesterday I am calmer after the 10th loss in a row. It is amazing what has happened to the bullpen. This was the first time the Marlins have seen the Pirates this year, but it made no difference. The bullpen has gone from being the strongest part of the team to the worst part of the team. That’s saying something, considering how bad the offense is. They have 3 games left with the Marlins. Could they lose 13 in a row? Don’t bet against it.