Pittsburgh Pirates Get Swept to Cap off Dreadful Homestand

The Pittsburgh Pirates lose third straight to get swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, dropping Sunday’s game 11-5.

Looking to avoid a sweep at home for the second time this season, the Pittsburgh Pirates sent Chris Archer to the bump to make his third start since returning from the IL. For the Dodgers, Kenta Maeda was called upon to make his tenth start of the season.

Archer found himself in a jam right away, as he walked Joc Pederson to lead off the game before Justin Turner reached on an infield single to give the red-hot Cody Bellinger an opportunity with two on and one out.  However, Archer managed to get out of trouble, getting Bellinger to fly out and then getting Matt Beaty to ground out.

After the Pirates went down in order in the bottom half of the frame, Corey Seager led off the top of the second inning with a solo blast to center field, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.

Archer proceeded to walk the next two batters before Maeda bunted them over to give Los Angeles runners on second and third with one out. But, Archer managed to escape trouble once again, retiring Pederson and Max Muncy to end the frame.

Josh Bell, arguably the second hottest hitter on the field and the planet, got things going with a single in the bottom of the second and was immediately followed by a two-run bomb from Bryan Reynolds on a 3-0 count that cleared the seats in right field, giving the Buccos a 2-1 lead.

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Having found a bit of groove for the next couple innings, retiring six of the last eight batters, things started to unravel for Archer in the fifth. After Archer loaded the bases with no outs allowing a single and two walks, Beaty scorched a single to right field to score two, putting the Dodgers back on top 3-2.

Then, with runners on first and third base, Seager grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Bellinger to increase the Dodgers lead at 4-2. Archer avoided further damage, but finished his outing with five innings pitched, allowing four runs on six hits, six walks, and three strikeouts.

In the ensuing bottom half of the inning, Adam Frazier got one back with a two-out solo HR to make the score 4-3.

On to relieve Archer was Montana DuRapau, who was met with a solo shot by Pederson to lead off the sixth, which put the Dodgers back up by two at 5-3. Matters only got worse from there, as the Dodgers managed to tally on three more runs before knocking DuRapau out the game with just one out and the bases loaded.

Dovydas Neverauskas was called upon to clean things up with the Pirates trailing 8-3. However, the Dodgers tacked on a couple more as Alex Verdugo lifted a sacrifice fly to right field and Pederson singled to left, breaking the game wide open at 10-3.

Despite a crushing six-run outburst, the Buccos would not go down without a fight. After a Bell walk and a Reynolds single, Colin Moran recorded his third hit of the day with an RBI single to left. Elias Diaz followed with an RBI single of his own to make the score 10-5. The Pirates added one more as Melky Cabrera came through with a pinch-hit RBI single to cap off the three-run inning, leaving the score at 10-6.

In the top of the seventh, Clay Holmes came on to pitch for the Buccos, allowing an RBI single by Beaty to make the score 11-6.

Fast forward to the top of the ninth, Frazier led off with a single and was followed by an RBI double by Gregory Polanco to inch the Pirates closer 11-7.

However, that wouldn’t be enough as the Dodgers won by the same score, and subsequently sweeping the Pirates. For the Buccos, this is the second time they’ve been swept at home, and this also caps off a disappointing homestand that saw them drop five out of six.

Archer couldn’t get the job done once again, as he’s handed his fifth loss of the season. On the bright side, the Pirates managed to go 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position, with 12 hits overall.

The Pirates head to Cincinnati for a four-game set starting with a doubleheader tomorrow against the Reds. First pitch for game one of the series is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. as Nick Kingham takes the hill against Luis Castillo.