Pittsburgh Pirates: Josh Bell Struggling vs Milwaukee & Other Takeaways From Series Loss

The offense struggled

Entering the season people were worried about the Pirate offense. To the surprise of most, the offense has become the team’s strength this season. Since early May, the Pirate offense has been as potent as any in the National League.

Over the weekend, however, Milwaukee pitching stifled the Pirate offense. Prior to the start of the series the Pirates had scored double digits runs in three of their previous four games. In their series victory over Houston, the team plated 25 runs.

The Pirates scored just 5 runs in the series. This included plating just 1 run each on both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, both of these games were losses. You’re not going to win many games when you score just 1 run.

In both of these losses things started promisingly for the offense.

Saturday night Colin Moran hit a two-out double that scored Bryan Reynolds to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. On the play, Bell was thrown out at the plate to end the inning and the scoring for the Pirates. Sunday afternoon, Melky Cabrera doubled in a run in the 1st inning. Moran then lined what appeared to be a two-run double into the left center field gap. Lorenzo Cain, however, made an excellent running grab to rob Moran.

Over the weekend the team was just 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position. This led to the Bucs leaving 16 runners on base. They also hit into five double plays.

Against the high powered Cub offense this week the Pirate lineup will need to get back to its normal output. If not, it could be a long series for the Pirates.