Pittsburgh Pirates Fail To Sweep Colorado Rockies

The Pittsburgh Pirates 4 game winning streak has come to an end

The Pittsburgh Pirates are now 30-36 on the season. This comes as a result of them being defeated by the Colorado Rockies by a score of 5-1 on Wednesday night. With the loss, the Pirates failed to complete the series sweep.

Wednesday night’s loss was due to a variety of factors. The Pirates did not have their best defensive game, it took the offense too long to get going, and once the offense did get going they left too many runners on base.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Rockies would draw first blood. With 1 out, Ian Desmond hit a solo home run to make it 1-0 Colorado.

This inning could have been much worse for Pirate starting pitcher Chad Kuhl, but his defense helped him out. After hitting a single, Raimel Tapia was caught stealing by Francisco Cervelli. Shortstop Max Moroff then made a top notch play to retire Trevor Story to end the inning.

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Colorado would extend their lead as Chad Kuhl was snake bitten a few times in the top of the 5th inning.

Ian Desmond walked to start the inning and then Ryan Tapia reached on an infield hit. Trevor Story then bounced a weakly hit ground ball through the infield for a RBI single to make it 2-0 Rockies.

Then with 1 out, Rockie pitcher German Marquez laid down a sacrifice bunt. Josh Bell bobbled the ball, which allowed Tapia to score from third and Marquez to reach first base.

Kuhl would do a good job of limiting the damage. He got a fly out and a ground out against the top of the Colorado order to end the inning with the Bucs trailing 3-0.

Things got heated in the bottom of the 5th inning. After a 1 out single by Andrew McCutchen, Francisco Cervelli was hit by a pitch.

This led to Cervelli and Colorado catcher Tony Wolters exchanging words. Home plate umpire Chris Conroy wouldn’t get between the two, while the benches and bullpens cleared.

When play resumed, Max Moroff flew out to left field. Jose Osuna would then pinch-hit for Chad Kuhl, ending his night. Osuna would ground out to shortstop to end the inning.

Jun 14, 2017; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Chad Kuhl (39) throws the ball against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

In 5 innings of work on Wednesday night Chad Kuhl allowed 3 runs, 2 of which were earned, on 4 hits. He walked a batter, allowed a solo home run, and struck out 3.

Edgar Santana pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 6th inning for the Pirates. This came against the heart of the Colorado lineup and included a pair of strikeouts. His slider was absolutely filthy on Wednesday night.

Adam Frazier would double to start the bottom of the 6th inning, and then Josh Harrison singled. With runners on the corners and no one out, the Rockies made a pitching change.

Chris Rusin would replace German Marquez. Rusin got Gregory Polanco to hit into a 3-6-1 double play. On the play, Frazier scored to cut the Rockies lead to 3-1.

Edgar Santana was also tabbed to pitch the top of the 7th inning, but things did not go as well. A Raimel Tapia double, Tony Wolters walk, and an Alexi Amarista single made it 4-1 Rockies.

After this, Santana was pulled from the game with 1 out and men on the corners. However, Daniel Hudson would get Charlie Blackmon to pop out to shortstop and he struck out DJ LeMahieu to clean things up.

Adam Ottavino took over for the Rockies in the bottom of the 7th inning. Ottavino would retire Andrew McCutchen to start the inning, but he ran into trouble after this. Francisco Cervelli singled, Max Moroff was hit by a pitch, and David Freese walked to load the bases.

After this, Bud Black pulled Ottavino for left-handed reliever Jake McGee. McGee got Adam Frazier to fly out to shallow center field, and then Josh Harrison struck out to end the inning. Despite loading the bases with just 1 out, the Pirates failed to score in the bottom of the 7th inning.

This 3 inning stretch is what decided the game. Despite hitting just 1 ball out of the infield, the Rockies plated 2 runs in the top of the 5th inning thanks to Pirate mistakes. The Pirates could not take advantage of Colorado gifts in the 6th and 7th innings, only scoring 1 run when they should have and more.

Tony Watson made his third appearance since being removed as Pirate closer when he pitched the top of the 8th inning. Watson would fire a 1-2-3 8th inning, which included striking out a pair of hitters.

After a scoreless bottom of the 8th from McGee, Jhan Marinez took over for the Pirates in the top of the 9th inning. The Rockies recorded back-to-back infield hits to start the inning, the second of which could have been ruled an error on Josh Harrison.

Following a sacrifice bunt, the Rockies got a run on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Chris Valaika. This made it 5-1 Rockies. John Jaso made a great catch leaning into the stands on Valaika’s fly out, however, he should have let it drop foul to prevent a run from scoring.

Greg Holland pitched the 9th for the Rockies. He retired the Pirates in order to close out the Colorado victory.

Next: Quietly, Jhan Marinez Has Been Very Good

After an off day on Thursday, the Pittsburgh Pirates return to action on Friday night. The Bucs will host the Chicago Cubs for a 3 game weekend series. Trevor Williams is scheduled to start for the Pirates, while the Cubs plan to go with Eddie Butler.

First pitch from PNC Park is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

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