Tag: Road woes continue

Final Score: Pirates 3 Royals 9

Why The Pirates Lost: The pitchers finally had a bad game. They got blasted for 9 runs on 12 hits. Andrew Heaney took 76 pitches to get through 3 innings. He gave up 4 runs on 6 hits. Chase Shugart came in and gave up 4 runs on 4 hits, including 2 home runs. The Pirates gave up 4 home runs for the game. I might have to change the Pirate offense name to the Double P Offense. They were not very passive for the 2nd straight game. They took only 12 strikes. The Pirates’ offense is pathetic, but at least they are moving the game along by making their outs quickly. The Pirate scoreless streak stopped at 30 innings. Tommy Pham hit a 2-run homer in the 3rd inning. Whew! The Pirates have only two hitters who are above league average, Nick Gonzales and Andrew McCutchen. We all thought the Pirates could not hit last year. This year they are somehow worse. Their regression has been truly amazing. Another great hire by the Pirates: Matt Hague.

Key Moments Of The Game: The Pirates took the lead for the first time on this road trip when Pham hit his home run. In the bottom of the third, Heaney got lit up as he gave up 3 runs. The inning started out with a weak liner perfectly placed by Jonathan India. After that, the Royals hit 5 balls that were 99 MPH or greater. The game was almost broken open here. Tommy Pham made a great catch to end the inning that saved 2 runs. Chase Shugart started the 4th inning and quickly gave up a double and a home run. You knew right then that the game was over. At one point in the game, the Pirates sent 20 men to the plate without getting a hit. They were putrid once again.

Next Game: Tonight, Royals in Kansas City. The Pirates have lost 4 in a row. Don Kelly’s record now is 26-28. This should be a good pitching matchup. Seth Lugo is going up against Mitch Keller. Will there be a run scored? More appropriately, will the Pirates even have a base runner? What I find amazing about all of the Pirates’ offensive woes is that nothing has been done about it. Nobody gets sent down. I just have this feeling that the Pirates are going to move a lot of dead wood at the deadline. They will have this very good August and September, but it will be too late.