Pittsburgh Pirates road trip report card for 8/6-8/15
By Joe Smeltzer
![DENVER, CO - AUGUST 7: Jameson Taillon #50 and manager Clint Hurdle #13 of the Pittsburgh Pirates embrace after Tallion finished a complete game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on August 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) DENVER, CO - AUGUST 7: Jameson Taillon #50 and manager Clint Hurdle #13 of the Pittsburgh Pirates embrace after Tallion finished a complete game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on August 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Frumbunter-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2018-2F08-2F1012961318-850x560-05f27ed000b842302d4c467e2babfc8a.jpg)
Looking back at the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 4-5 road trip
Over the past week, the Pittsburgh Pirates played seven games on the west coast and two more in the Twin Cities. The road trip had a promising start, with the Bucs winning four of their first six. It went south, however, starting with a 4-3 loss in Sunday’s series finale with the Giants, followed by two more losses to the Minnesota Twins. The Pirates continued their mediocre August and finished the trip a ‘meh’ 4-5.
There were some good things to take from this stretch. Offensively, Adam Frazier and David Freese are stepping up as useful part-time players and Josh Bell has been a stud since coming back from the DL. Pitching-wise, Jameson Taillon is further distancing himself as the anchor of the starting rotation, and Trevor Williams has been a monster since mid-July.
Overall, however, the Bucs aren’t playing good baseball, and here is a breakdown of how they performed in the key facets of the game with this edition of my “report card.”