Today's Game: Tyler Anderson fanned a pair in a clean start. Ke'Bryan Hayes beat out on infield single in his return and Bryan Reynold's knock sent him to third, but the next two Bucs looked at third strikes delivered by Elieser Hernandez, which was not a good Buc'n look with a runner at third. It took 10 pitches to sit down Miami in the second, and ditto for the Pirates, with Marte gloving all three outs. The Fish got a single and bunted him to second. A two-out rap into center made it 1-0 before a caught stealing ended the Florida third. The Bucs went quietly; the Elieser total is four K and five flies to Starling. It was 1-2-3 in the fourth for the Marlins. Bryan Reynolds escaped the Marte flytrap by banging one into the Clemente seats to knot the score. Tyler stranded a one-out double in the fifth while the bottom of the Pittsburgh order went up and down without a peep.
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| Young Hayes was sharp at bat and in the field - 2021 Topps Chrome |
A single by Elieser followed by a one-out Marte double ended Anderson's night in the sixth, and Clay Holmes was waved in. A dribbler plated the pitcher - he pulled up lame coming in and was helped off the field - and another knock made it 3-1. Ross Detwiler climbed the mound for Miami. Key banged a triple off the Clemente Wall with one gone and scored when B-Rey's bouncer to short was booted (it was a tough play and would have scored the run if cleanly fielded). After a K, Anthony Bender was brought on and got the last out. In the seventh, Holmes struck out the leadoff man, who reached on a third-strike wild pitch and then stole second. That was followed by a walk. They were bunted up and Sam Howard was given the ball. Ex-Bucco Corey Dickerson grounded out sharply, freezing the runners, and a rangy, diving play in the hole by Young Hayes kept it 3-2. Anthony Bass toed the slab and gave up a single to Ben Gamel, who was caught stealing on a bang-bang play, and the inning ended quietly.
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| Jake was the hero tonight - photo Pittsburgh Pirates |
Kyle Crick spun in the eighth, giving up a walk but posting a zero. Dylan Floro surrendered an infield knock to Adam Frazier with one gone. A grounder moved him along, then B-Rey was worked around and walked. Gregory Polanco drew an unintentional free pass to allow Jake Stallings to bang a two-out, two-strike, bases-clearing double (Gregory was flying from the crack of the bat) to put Pittsburgh up 5-3. Richard Bleier was waved in to finish the inning. Richard Rodriguez was called on to close it out, and a two-out single by the Fish just delayed the inevitable. Raise it.
Expect this type of series; both teams are small-ball offenses and the pitching/D will be play big. It should be an entertaining set. Key, btw, hit the ground running - speedy, a magician with the glove and banger at bat. When Redbeard returns, maybe the Bucs can uncork an offense of sorts...
Notes:
- Ke'Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds each had a pair of hits (with a triple for Key and dinger for B-Rey). Reynolds had two RBI, and Jake Stallings the other three. All five runs were tallied by the top four in the order, who banged out five hits (the Bucs had seven overall) and a pair of walks.
- Ka'ai Tom pinch hit tonight, so his wrist injury was minor.
- The Bucs played a short vid tribute for Starling Marte before his first at bat, and he recognized the fans with a wave afterward.
- Tonight's attendance was 4,192.
- MLB announced the penalty for getting caught with a foreign substance will be a 10-game suspension; sounds like they're ready to crack down on all the spin-producing gunk now popular with hurlers once formal guidelines are established.
Tomorrow's Game: The game starts at 7:05 and will be carried by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. It's a free tee giveaway night.
4 comments:
Agree with your take on the team's offense this year. It was never going to be great, but it had a chance to be serviceable before all the injuries hit. Getting Redbeard and Hayes back out there on a daily basis to go along with Reynolds and Frazier is a decent start. Kevin Stallings is never going to be a great hitter, but he has a little bit of sock and he seems to also have a knack for getting clutch hits. If Newman would just hit half as well as he did in spring training, we might be onto something. I've pretty much given up on El Coffee. Maybe he can get it together somewhere else, though he's now nearly 30 years old and apparently permanently reduced by that sad shoulder injury he had.
Anyway, I really hope the team can get healthy and stay that way at least from here through the All Star break. If they do, they might surprise. The rotation hasn't been great, but it's also not terrible, and the 'pen has been serviceable.
Yah, Will, I'm not looking for contention but hoping they can be at least competitive. Too bad about Swaggerty; maybe Cruz will show up later in the year. And I am kinda curious to see how the pitching shakes out come August and September - who stays, who goes, who moves up. The Frazier story line should be interesting, too.
Swaggerty's injury really hurts the entire organization, I think. Honestly, shoulder surgeries are often worse than getting cut on for your elbow. The recovery rate seems to be significantly lower. I sure hope it doesn't turn out that Swaggerty is permanently debilitated (as Polanco appears to be). In addition to his very good performance in the minors, he was a top draft pick, and the Pirates have lost too many of those over the years to injury, ineffectiveness, and poor player development.
Cruz will probably get a cup of coffee this year, but I'd be surprised if it was more. OTOH, if Newman keeps scuffling, who else is there anywhere in the organization at present who could supplant him? Cole Tucker appears headed for Utilityville (if he even gets that far), and Erik Gonzalez has spit the bit in a season where the door to a regular gig at short might have opened just a crack given Newman's struggles---but all Gonzalez has done is confirm the previous assessment of him as an okay bench player but nothing more than that.
Swaggerty was the only OF'er I saw getting any time, and shoulder surgery is serious, so we'll have to see how he recovers come the spring. As for SS, there's still some debate over whether Cruz can hold down short; Liover Peguero is the current shining star in the minors, in the mix for a Top 100 MLB Prospect and Top 5 or so for the Pirates. But he's just in Hi-A, so Altoona is prob his ceiling for this season.
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