Tag: Skenes back

Final Score: Pirates 8 Reds 3

Why The Pirates Won: Despite a very strange lineup, the Pirate bats continued to score runs. No O’Hearn and no Lowe. I can see Lowe; he does have trouble against lefties. O’Hearn hits lefties better than righties. There is this thing today called a day off. I am not sure the Pirate management team knows what that means when a team has an off day. What it means to me is nobody is playing today and O’ Hearn did not need yesterday off. When you win, even stupidity is rewarded. Though the run total was the same, the Pirate pitching staff had a much better performance. Paul Skenes pitched 5 solid innings. Why just 5, I’ll never know, but maybe in the long run, it might be best. Skenes gave up 1 run on 3 hits. He struck out 5 and walked 2. He threw 77 pitches, but the Pirates felt he had thrown enough. Mason Montgomery gave up a 2-run homer after a walk, but the rest of the bullpen was superb. Isaac Mattson, Justin Lawrence, and Gregory Soto pitched the last 3 and 1/3 innings, giving up just one hit, no walks, and struck out 3. Soto looked a lot better than the game before. The Pirate offense put 8 runs on the board again with Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds hitting home runs for the 2nd consecutive game. The Pirates were clinging to a 4-3 lead going into the top of the 9th. They put 4 runs on the board, with Nick Gonzales and Bryan Reynolds getting the big hits and driving in 2 runs each. Those 9th-inning runs on the road are sure nice insurance.

The Key Moments Of The Game: In the first inning, the first two batters made outs. Bryan Reynolds singled to right. The struggling Marcel Ozuna worked a 6-pitch walk. Oneil Cruz hit a 2-1 knee-high curve out over the plate, 407 feet into the right field seats, to give the Pirates a quick 3-0 lead. This got the Pirates off to a fast start. Skenes had a good first inning, and the Pirates kept their early momentum going. After the Reds made it 4-3 in the 6th inning, the Pirate bullpen never really let the Reds put up much of a threat. The last 10 Reds batters all made outs. The Pirates had the big 9th inning for a series win.

Next Game: Tomorrow, the Orioles in Pittsburgh, at 4:12 PM. For the Pirates, it will be Mitch Keller starting the home opener. Let’s hope things go better for the home opener than they did for the opener of the season. Other than the first game’s disaster, the pitching has been pretty much spot on. They have not given up more than 3 runs in any of the last 5 games. The Pirates did finish the road trip 3-3, which is what you are supposed to do on the road. The Pirates are going to play 13 out of the next 16 games at home. We will see if the Pirates can get on a nice little run during this stretch.