Pittsburgh Pirates: Grading the Season Opening Series in St. Louis

Pirate Offense

Saturday afternoon was not a good one for the Pittsburgh Pirates offense. The team loaded the bases with no one out in the 2nd inning, and only scored due to John Ryan Murphy working a walk with the bases loaded. That would be the lone run they scored all day.

The team did start and end the series with good offensive performances, though. In Friday night’s tough 5-4 loss, the Bucs scored 4 runs. While 4 runs is not a big number, when it’s a game that is started by a pitcher the caliber of Jack Flaherty, you will take it. Additionally, if not for a terrific defensive play by Kolten Wong in the 9th inning, the team would have had runners on the corners with just one out while trailing by just a run.

Sunday afternoon, the offense had their best game of the series. Colin Moran and Jose Osuna hit home runs, Phillip Evans had three hits including a double, Jacob Stallings hit a double, and each of the top three batters in the line up walked.

The Verdict

While you want to see more out of the offense in a three-game series than 10 runs, it was not a bad weekend for the offense either. Saturday afternoon was the only truly poor offensive performance of the weekend. Factor in pitchers always being ahead of hitters early in the season and the Pirates facing a good Cardinal pitching staff, it certainly could have been a worse weekend for the Pirate bats.

Grade: C