Tag: Wrong decisions

Final Score: Pirates 6 Cardinals 9

Why the Pirates Lost: The Pirates have lost 6 out of their last 8 games. In the 6 losses, the Pirates have given up 7, 10, 11, 6, 6, and 9 runs. Granted, they were shut out twice, 6-0. In the other 4 losses, they averaged just over 6 runs per game. You should win at least 3 of those games, if not all 4. The pitching has completely fallen apart, including the starters. What was supposed to be the team’s strength has turned out to be its biggest weakness. There does not appear to be any help on the way. The Pirate management team acts like it is not happening. The bullpen gave up 5 runs in a little over 3 innings as they blew another save. The offense, which went another 4 innings without scoring, managed to score 4 runs in the top of the 5th to take a 4-3 lead. They were helped along by pitcher Matthew Liberatore, who looked unhittable for 4 innings. He struck out a career-high 8 batters, including 5 out of the first 6 to start the game. In the top of the 5th, he completely fell apart. The Pirates got 3 big two-out at-bats from Bryan Reynolds (double), Marcell Ozuna (walk), and Oneil Cruz (single) to take a 4-3 lead. Alas, it was not enough, as the Pirates lost their 4th in a row.

Key Moments of the Game: It started with the lineup card as the Pirates elected to start Henry Davis for the third consecutive game. He did not disappoint, going 0 for 3 and not hitting a ball over 255 feet. His batting average is now .137. Through 4 innings, Mitch Keller had given up 3 runs on 4 hits, walking 1 and striking out 2. His 5th inning was his best; he retired the side in order. In the top of the 6th, he got the first out and then hit a batter. He got the dangerous Jordan Walker to pop out. He had thrown only 83 pitches. It looked like he was getting into a groove. Don Kelly elected to bring in lefty Evan Sisk. Sisk has decent numbers, but most of those have been in low-leverage situations. He has been in high-leverage situations 42% less than the average relief pitcher this year. This was just his 35th appearance in his long career. Keller is your number 2 starter. This was not a decision that was based on many facts other than the batter’s stats against left-handers. As Greg Brown was going through his long, boring reasons why Keller was taken out, Nolan Gorman took the 3rd pitch and hit it 437 feet to give the Cardinals a 5-4 lead. Where do the Pirates come up with this stuff?

Next Game: Tonight, Cardinals in St. Louis. Carmen Mlodzinski is listed as the starter for tonight’s game. It looks like the Pirates are not going with the opener that they have used twice when Mlodzinski has pitched with great success. No, you wouldn’t want to do that when you have given up 2 runs in 11 innings of pitching. Let’s keep trying to maintain our average of about 8 runs per game. They will probably start Henry Davis for the 4th game in a row. Would they really do that? I can’t wait to see.