SERIES REVIEW: Pittsburgh Pirates vs Rockies

Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Game three of the series didn’t go very well, but the Rockies are still a Major League Baseball team, they can and do win games. They don’t get swept every series so really just a bad game. The Pirates still won the series, which is the important thing. You aren’t going to sweep every poor opponent you play, but you must keep winning series against the lesser teams in the league. Overall, the Pirates played a fairly solid series against an inferior opponent. They didn’t blow the Rockies out, but as Pirates’ fans saw for 20 years, bad teams don’t just lose blowouts, they lose frustratingly close games that turn on a single play. The Pirates took advantage of the Rockies’ mistakes and won the series. Can’t complain about that.

The Pirates will have a much needed and deserved off-day on Monday before turning their attention to another struggling ball club, the Milwaukee Brewers. The Pirates need to keep their focus on the Brewers and not look ahead to the St. Louis Cardinals series ahead of it. The Pirates have done good work in their two series against the Marlins and Rockies, going 5-2 against the sub .500 teams.

Miller Park is still a scary place for me and most Pirates fans as it was the House of Horrors for way too long. Even with a rebuilding team, the Brewers have enough talent to give the Pirates fits, so the team must be on top of their game to avoid falling into a dreaded “trap series.” You don’t become one of the best teams in the league by accident and I would expect the Pirates will be purely focused on the Brewers. As we come to September and the final push the playoffs, let’s just enjoy the fact that for a third straight September, the Pirates find themselves right in the midst of a division pennant race and in good position to at least host a third straight NL Wildcard Game. The times they truly are a-changing.

Series Result: Pirates win 2-1

2015 win/loss record: 79-50

2015 series record: 23-13-5

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