Tag: Should have rain harder

Final Score: Pirates 2 Astros 8

Why The Pirates Lost: The other day the Pirates had a complete win. Last night was a complete loss. They did not commit an error, which was the only positive of this game. The Pirates struck out 16 times. The first four batters struck out to start the game. They were only called out on strikes 3 times. I guess you could say that was a positive. They were swinging, although there were a couple of times there were check swings. Mitch Keller got racked up pretty good. He gave up 6 runs on 8 hits. He struck out 5 and walked 1 in 6 and 1/3 innings. The offense only managed 2 runs on 5 hits. They put 17 balls in play. The Pirates started Triolo and Pham. Both had good games, reaching base 5 times between them. Triolo had 2 hits and a walk. Pham had 2 walks. I don’t care. Canario and Rodriguez should have played. Rodriguez has hardly played any baseball for about 21 months. He needs to play. The same thing can be said of Canario. In this particular game, it really did not make any difference. Still, it certainly hurt any progress that they might have made. Henry Davis, in his last 13 at-bats, has not had a hit. He has struck out 6 times. Looks like that mini hot streak was just a fluke. They kept it close until the 7th. They are 1-2 on the home stand.

Key Moment Of The Game: The lineup card pretty much sucked. You have to wonder why Mitch Keller came out for the 7th inning. The score was 4-2 Astros. Through 6 innings, he had given up 4 runs on 6 hits. There were a lot of hard-hit balls against him. His pitch count was good at 79 pitches. The bullpen was well-rested. There were lots of options. He should have at least been taken out after the opening single. He was not. He did get one out. He gave up a double to Jeremy Pena to make the score 5-2. Pena then stole third. He scored on a deep sacrifice fly. The Pirates did not control the Astros’ running game. It cost them 2 runs. The quicker we forget this one, the better.

Next Game: Tonight, Phillies in Pittsburgh. The big bad Phillies come to town for a weekend series. They have been in a funk, lately. They are 3-7 in their last 10 games. I don’t know if this is good news or bad news. It could mean they are about to come out of it with a vengeance. Bailey Falter is going for the Pirates and Skenes is scheduled to pitch Sunday. The weather looks iffy for the entire weekend. There is nothing iffy about the Pirates’ lineup card. It stinks.