Pittsburgh Pirates Homestand Report Card 7/6 – 7/15

PITTSBURGH, PA - JUNE 24: Clay Holmes #68 of the Pittsburgh Pirates delivers a pitch in the seventh inning during the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park on June 24, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - JUNE 24: Clay Holmes #68 of the Pittsburgh Pirates delivers a pitch in the seventh inning during the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park on June 24, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
Pittsburgh Pirates
PITTSBURGH, PA – JULY 15: Josh Bell #55 of the Pittsburgh Pirates celebrates after hitting a two RBI double in the tenth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park on July 15, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on fire. The Bucs ended the first half of the 2018 season with a 10-game home stand against three playoff contenders and went 7-3, highlighted by a five-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.

After a “meh” series with the Philadelphia Phillies to start this stretch, in which the Pittsburgh Pirates lost two of three, Pittsburgh won six of its last seven games to roll into the All-Star break playing its best baseball of the season.

Not everything was perfect.

The homestand started with an embarrassing 17-5 loss to Philadelphia, and also featured the continued disappearance of Austin Meadows, which has caused a stir among fans and media. For the most part, however, the Bucs are clicking, and because of that, people shouldn’t be complaining about much.

Here’s a breakdown of how the Pirates starting pitching, relief pitching, and offense performed over this past homestand. Let’s get into it.