Pittsburgh Pirates series review vs Reds

4 of 5

Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Game Three: J.A. Happ (4-1, 1.57ERA) vs. Keyvius Sampson (2-3, 6.68ERA)

Result: Pirates win 5-4

Winning Pitcher: J.A. Happ (5-1, 1.79ERA)

Losing Pitcher: Keyvius Sampson (2-4, 6.94ERA)

Save: Mark Melancon (44, 2.09ERA)

What went right:
- It feels like a broken record to say that J.A. Happ pitched well, but he pitched well. He had arguably his best start as a Pirate. He went six innings, allowed two runs on three hits and struck out 10.
- Jung Ho Kang also continued to make these reviews sound like a broken record as he provided the offense. He went 1-4 with a grand slam home run, four RBI and a run scored.
- Gregory Polanco was the table setter again. He went 2-4 with two runs scored.
- Mark Melancon had a pretty solid bounce back performance after struggling in game two of the series. He earned his 44^th save of the season.

What went wrong:
- Outside of the grand slam and a sac-fly, the Pirates offense really didn’t do much, which let the Reds get back into the game.
- Tony Watson was not very sharp and the Reds continue to hit him better than any team in the league. He allowed two runs on three hits, but did avoid letting the Reds tie the game.
- Aramis Ramirez committed his first error as a first baseman. It wasn’t horrible, but it did show the growing pains of converting a career third baseman to first.

Next: Final Takeaways