Pirates Complete The Four Game Sweep Of The Reds

The Pirates completed a four-game sweep of the Reds on Sunday with a 7-5 score.  Tempers flared as benches cleared in the top of the fourth inning.

The Pirates entered the day with a 4-3 record, looking to get another stellar outing from one of their starting pitchers.  Chris Archer struggled early to find the strike zone, but he eventually was able to settle down.  He went six innings, allowing three runs on five hits, two of which were home runs hit by Scott Schebler and a tape measure shot by Derek Dietrich.

In the top of the second inning, Dietrich ran into a ball left over the plate by Archer and deposited it into the Allegheny.  Dietrich made sure he took some time to admire his home run at home plate, which didn’t sit well with the Pirates.  In the top of the fourth inning, Archer threw a pitch behind Dietrich, which caused a scrum on the field.  Yasiel Puig, Amir Garrett, and David Bell were ejected for the Reds as well as Keone Kela and Felipe Vasquez for the Pirates.

The Bucco bats broke out today as they combined for 12 hits, with eight of them being extra base hits.  Melky Cabrera recorded three hits along with two RBI’s, Josh Bell also has two hits including a monster shot over the batters eye, and Adam Frazier had a home run to lead off the game, while Jason Martin also picked up two hits.

The Pirates bats looked lively on Sunday, especially with how Josh Bell is swinging it.  He has done nothing but get extra base hits in the past two games, including homers in two straight.  Things are looking up for this offense as Polanco and Dickerson are on the mend.

The Pirates will begin a three game series against the Cubs starting on Monday, April 8th.  The Cubs horrific start to the 2019 season will not get any better with the streaking Pirates coming into town.  They will have an off day on Tuesday and will resume the series on Wednesday and Thursday.