Final Score: Pirates 6 Brewers 0
Why The Pirates Won: Paul Skenes retired the first 20 batters he faced, and Konnor Griffin had his most productive game as a Pirate. Skenes was totally dominant, only allowing two balls hit over 100 MPH and the same number hit into the outfield. In 7 innings, he allowed one ground ball hit, striking out 7 and walking 0. He threw 93 pitches, with 62 being strikes. His ERA is now down to 2.48 but get this: take out that ridiculous 1st inning that happened on opening day, and his ERA is 0.96 over his last 5 starts. Konnor Griffin celebrated his birthday by hitting his first career home run in the 2nd inning. You could just see the weight come off his shoulders as he rounded the bases. He went on to get 2 more hits and drive in 2 more runs. Even more significant to me is the fact that all 3 hits were to the opposite field. Let’s just hope the Pirates don’t think he needs a rest today. The Pirates had some nice 2-out hitting to score 4 of their last 5 runs after 2 were out. It was a solid win to even up the road trip at 2-2, ensuring that it won’t be a total disaster.
Key Moment Of The Game: This may be the key moment of the season. Griffin took a four-seam fastball and drilled it into the right-center field seats to start the Pirates’ scoring with one out in the top of the 3rd. The Pirates were able to add on quite nicely, scoring single runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. In the eighth, the Pirates were able to take advantage of some bungling defense by the Brewers as they made errors on consecutive at-bats to load the bases with two outs. Griffin came through with a nice single to right to make the score 6-0. The bullpen never let the Brewers off the mat, allowing the Pirates a stress-free win.
Next Game: Tonight, the Brewers in Milwaukee. Mitch Keller will be going for the Pirates. He has had only one off outing so far this season. The Brewers will be sending out their young phenom, Jacob Misiorowski. After getting off to a hot start last year in his rookie season, he has had his ups and downs since. The one thing he can do is strike out people. In 92 and 2/3 career innings, he has struck out 129 batters. He can be hit at times and has had control issues. The Pirates could seal a .500 road trip with a win tonight. So far, we have not had a goofy lineup. Will that continue? We can only pray.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 