Pittsburgh Pirates homestand report card for week of 5/3 – 5/8
By Joe Smeltzer
With the latest Pittsburgh Pirates homestand now in the rear view mirror, it’s time to dish out some grades for the team
The most recent Pittsburgh Pirates homestand started with a beat down, ended with a collapse and featured some exciting baseball in between. So, in short, it had a little bit of everything!
Pittsburgh started a six-game stretch against the AL West Friday night and lost to Josh “Mike Piazza” Phegley and the A’s, 14-1. The Bucs gutted out a 6-4 win Saturday night and ended the series Sunday with a three-run walk-off homer from Starling Marte, capping a four-run 13th inning.
After an off-day Monday, the Texas Rangers came to PNC Park. Behind a gutsy bullpen and a Gregory Polanco homer, the Pirates earned a gritty 5-4 victory on Tuesday night. Pittsburgh should have earned a sweep of the quick two-game series on Wednesday afternoon, but thanks to their manager and Michael Feliz, fans watched a 6-2 lead quickly, and painfully, turn into a 9-6 loss in just two innings.
Here is a breakdown of how the Pirates performed this week in the game’s key areas. This is my first “report card” article of 2019. Here it goes.