Where Things Stand
Happy Friday, everyone! The Pirates have managed to win a series in Chicago. This is not a drill. Coming into the final set trailing the season series 9-1, the Bucs dug deep and found a way to come up big on the road. I had pretty much given up hope after dropping the first game 14-1. I expected a sweep. I even had cookie recipes prepared to stick in here instead of talking about bad baseball both yesterday and today. What an incredible turnaround by our beloved Battlin’ Buccos. Last night saw Andujar and Palacios both with 3 RBIs apiece. Bae came through with a big RBI triple. Connor Joe was 3 for 5 with an RBI. Oviedo wasn’t exactly lights out, but he battled through six shutout innings. It might’ve been the worst 6 shutout inning start we’ve seen this season, but it got the job done. It certainly wasn’t all bad. We’ll take it. The bullpen wasn’t great. They gave up six runs in three innings of combined work. Not ideal, but the offense was able to carry the load. It was a good game capping off what ended up being a good series despite getting off to a bad start. I’ll let Tyler and Neil break down all of the intricate details for you.
Up Next
The Bucs will head to southwest Ohio to play the Cincinnati Reds in a three-game series this weekend. The Reds will come into the series with a 79-75 record and sitting a half-game out of the final National League Wild Card spot. Another chance to play the spoiler. The Pirates lead the season series 6-4 though they trail 1-2 at Great American Ball Park. Let’s take a look at the projected pitching matchups for the series.
Friday, September 22
TBD vs Andrew Abbott LHP (8-5 3.68 ERA)
Saturday, September 23
TBD vs Connor Phillips RHP (1-0 5.74 ERA)
Sunday, September 24
TBD vs Brandon Williamson LHP (4-5 4.56 ERA)
Another list of projected starters dominated by TBD. I’m not even going to try to guess at this point. The last two games have seen Keller and Oviedo who are basically the only two actual starting pitchers on the staff right now, so it’s going to be some random mishmash of mediocrity. Fortunately, outside of Abbott, the Reds won’t be countering with anything all that great. This should give the Pirates a fighting chance. Can they win the series? Will the Bucs’ bats stay hot? Let me know what you think in the comments.
Alright. That wraps us up for the week. No Quick Hits today. Outside of Keller notching his 200th strikeout there just isn’t much news. We’ve reached that point of the season where there just isn’t a lot to talk about outside of the final games. We’ll be back here on Monday wrapping up the Reds series and previewing the final week of the season. Have a wonderful weekend.