Tag: Slowly sinking out of first place

Final Score: Pirates 2 Cubs 7

Why The Pirates Lost: It was a team effort. Let’s get Johann Oviedo over with first. I don’t care what your pitching line is, if it takes you 100 pitches to go 4 and 1/3 innings then that is a bad outing. The bullpen gave up 3 runs in 3 and 2/3 innings which is better than their recent average of 2+ runs per inning but is still awful. The defense was just flat out bad. The Pirates were charge with one error but there were many plays that could have been made that were not. The offense was its usual pathetic self. They only scored 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. What little traffic they had on the bases was wasted by not moving runners up. They struck out 10 times. This is the lowest point of the season so far even though at one point they were one game below .500. When the Pirates went through their May slump, they were playing a lot of games against the AL East the best division in baseball. You could pinpoint the losses squarely on the offense that did not score more than 2 runs per game for something like a 10-12 game period. Now the competition is not as tough and every phase of the Pirates’ game pretty much stinks. The Cubs outscored them 28 to 11 in the 3 games. I said in the beginning of season one of the X factors would be how this young club would respond to playing meaningful games in August. This is the first time many of them are playing meaningful games in June and they are crapping the bed. I only see one silver lining here and I am probably stretching things a bit. Getting used to playing such games may help them out, in those dog days of August, if they make if that far.

Key Moment Of The Game: It was the crooked number the Cubs put up in the bottom of the 5th, scoring 5 runs on 5 hits, with only one being in extra base hit, as Pirates helped things along with 2 walks and an error on one of the easiest ground balls you could catch. Merry Christmas, Chicago Cubs.

Next Game: Tonight, Brewers in Milwaukee. The Brewers are playing just as bad as the Pirates. They have lost 6 in a row. Who is going to snap out of it? The Brewers being at home, may not be an advantage if they don’t turn it around, because the boo birds will be out in full force. I have no idea what to expect. The game is going to be on Apple TV+. This could trigger a big drop in their stock. I just hope this series doesn’t set baseball back 100 years.