Final Score: Pirates 1 Angels 0
Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate pitching staff threw another shutout and had to since the Pirates scored just 1 run for the third consecutive game. This time it was the quintet of Paul Skenes, Gregory (Well Rested) Soto, Carmen Mlodzinski, Camilo Doval and Mason Montgomery who shutout the Angels on 5 hits and 3 walks. The Angels only had one at bat with a runner in scoring position. They left 8 men on base. The Pirates were worse than that only getting 3 hits and 1 walk. One of their hits was a solo home run by none other than Henry Davis. That got his slugging up to .304. What a guy. It was the only run of the game. It was a nice win for the Pirates to finish off the homestand 4-2. The bad news is that all four teams ahead of the Pirates won. The Pirates still stand 5 games out of the wild card. There are just 18 games to go. The other bad news is no more games against the Giants and the Angels.
The Key Moment Of The Game: The Pirates led 1-0 going into the top of the 5th. Skenes got the first two outs but hit the next batter. Mike Trout hit a line drive to left center field that Oneil Cruz got to quickly and sent the relay to Brandon Lowe. He threw on home to nail the runner at the plate. The play was not that close. It was a bad send by the third base coach of the Angels. The Angels could only get one man to second base for the rest of the game even though they got a man on first for 8 of the 9 innings. The bullpen hung tough to preserve the win as the Pirates never threatened to extend the lead.
Next Game: Tomorrow night, White Sox in Chicago. The Pirates embark on a 6 game road trip against the White Sox and then the Cubs. A 4-2 road trip would be excellent under any other circumstances. In this case it will be not good enough. They have just come off a 4-2 home stand. They only moved one game closer to the wild card from 6 games back to 5. At that rate they would fall 2 games short. In 7 of their last 13 games the Pirates have scored 1 run or less. The next 9 games are against the White Sox, Cubs and Brewers. It would be shocking if the Pirates even come that close to the playoffs. Stay tuned.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 