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Pittsburgh Pirates Fall Again To The Hard Hitting Dodgers

By Josh Mavilla

PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 25: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers slides safely into second base with an RBI double in the fifth inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on May 25, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 25: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers slides safely into second base with an RBI double in the fifth inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on May 25, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /
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The Pittsburgh Pirates weren’t able to get the bats going as they fall to the Dodgers 7-2 on Saturday night. 

Throughout the 2019 season the Pittsburgh Pirates have struggled against the National League West. This continued on Saturday night as then team fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of 7-2.

With the loss, the Pittsburgh Pirates are now 8-16 against the NL West this season. This includes being 0-6 against the Dodgers. Despite the poor play against the NL West, the team remains over .500 on the season at 25-24.

Joe Musgrove started for the Pirates struggled throughout the ballgame. He surrendered 6 earned runs on 10 hits in a game that always seemed to be in the Dodgers momentum.

Los Angeles came out swinging as they collected 8 doubles off the bat of 7 different hitters in their lineup. Musgrove started to labor in the 4th inning as he was forced to throw 24 pitches while giving up a near homer to pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu that plated a run. The left-handed hitters demolished Musgrove as Joc Pederson, Max Muncy, Corey Seager, and Cody Bellinger combined for 8 hits and 5 RBI’s.

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Ryu wasn’t extremely sharp, but managed to give up only 2 runs. He did allow 10 hits to the Pirates lineup, but the Bucs continued to hit with runners in scoring position. They were a woeful 2-for-15 with RISP.

There was constant traffic on the bases, but with the inability to provide hits with runners in scoring position continues to haunt the Bucs. The bright spots were Josh Bell, Starling Marte, and Kevin Newman, as they combined for 7 of the 11 hits.

The Dodgers are without a doubt one of the most well-rounded teams in baseball. They have the most disciplined lineup in the NL and a top rotation as well. It isn’t a secret that they are considerably better than the Pirates, but with how the pitching has been, it will be hard to beat anyone.

The rotation continues to struggle as Musgrove and Chris Archer have been mediocre as of late, with Jordan Lyles being the ace of the staff thus far. It is key for them to get healthy as soon as possible before they slide even farther down the NL central standings. With the promotion of Mitch Keller for Monday’s double header against the Reds, hopefully he will be able to provide stability in the Pirates rotation. The bats have been heating up lately, which is a good sign. There just needs to be an adjustment to their approach with runners in scoring position.

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The Pirates look to salvage a game from the Dodgers on Sunday as they will wrap up their season against each other. Chris Archer (5.55 ERA, 5.17 FIP) also looks to bounce back after a couple poor starts since coming off the IL. Dave Roberts will counter with veteran righty Kenta Maeda (3.51 ERA, 3.76 FIP).

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