Pittsburgh Pirates home stand report card for 5/30-6/6

PITTSBURGH, PA - JUNE 05: Elias Diaz #32 of the Pittsburgh Pirates celebrates with Gregory Polanco #25 of the Pittsburgh Pirates after hitting a two run home run in the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park on June 5, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

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PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 01: Felipe Vazquez #73 of the Pittsburgh Pirates reacts after giving up the game tying home run in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park on June 1, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

The bullpen

Since five of the seven games on this home stand were decided by four runs or more, the relievers weren’t thrust into too many high-intensity situations. The two times the Pirates needed the bullpen to come through, however, it failed, and that’s been an unfortunate theme throughout 2019. Ironically, the Pirates two best relievers were the culprits.

In Saturday’s game against the Brewers, the Pirates twice had late leads, and coughed them up both times, climaxing with Felipe Vazquez’s first blown save of the year. Three days later, Pittsburgh had a 5-3 advantage in the seventh inning, but Kyle Crick met Austin Riley, and the evening quickly went south.

While the bullpen wasn’t tested enough to earn too terrible of a grade, I think a big fat D+ is in order.

. . . D+.

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