Pittsburgh Pirates: Grading Series Loss Against the Tigers
By Marty Leap

The Offense
This series was probably the best of the season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Friday night the offense exploded for 13 runs, bu suffered a loss due to the bullpen meltdown. Saturday afternoon, another good offensive effort was waited as the team scored 5 runs.
Sunday, however, the offense struggled. The Pittsburgh Pirates mustered just 1 run in their 2-1 loss against the Tigers.
What was best to see in this series was struggling Pirate bats trending in the right direction. Josh Bell had three hits and drew a pair of walks over the weekend. Bryan Reynolds had a three hit game with a double on Friday night and drew a walk on Saturday. Kevin Newman was 6-for-15 with two doubles.
The Erik Gonzalez breakout continued as well. E-Gon hit his first home run of the series on Friday night, and finished the series 6-for-13 with that home run and a double.
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The Verdict
In the three game set against the Tigers the Pittsburgh Pirates scored 19 runs. That is very good for any team over a three game stretch. The problem is, in the final game of those three they only scored 1 run. That is what keeps the offense from getting an A.
Grade: B