Pittsburgh Pirates Get No Hit For First Time Since 2015

Tuesday night the Pittsburgh Pirates kicked off an abbreviated two-game series against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox kicked off their abbreviate two-game series on Tuesday night in Chicago. It is safe to say that this game is one people will not forget any time soon. Not only was their a power surge during the game that knocked out the TV coverage, but, for the first time since 2015, the Pittsburgh Pirates got no hit.

With the 4-0 loss against the White Sox, the winning streak of the Pittsburgh Pirates was snapped at three. The loss drops the team’s overall record on the season to a lowly 7-18. Tank season, bay bay!

Pittsburgh Pirates No Hit For The First Time Since 2015

Erik Gonzalez walked to lead off the 4th inning. That would be the lone base runner for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

Gonzalez would scare Lucas Giolito with a hard hit ball to right field with two outs in the 9th inning. However, the a shoe strings grab by Adam Engel would finish off the no hitter for the young White Sox righty.

Giolito was absolutely filthy on Tuesday night. His change up was un-hittable and he kept Pirate batters off balance throughout the night.

What was most frustrating was to see the Pirate line up look so helpless after a great weekend against the Brewers. Outisde of a Josh Bell line out and the aforementioned Gonzalez fly out to end the game, no balls were even squared up and hit hard.

Steven Brault Struggles

While there was a relief outing, and a disastrous one, thrown in there, entering Tuesday night’s start Steven Brault had not allowed a run in four consecutive starts. As a result, he entered the start with a 3.00 ERA and a 3.63 FIP on the season.

A big reason for his success had been vastly improved control. Well, on Tuesday night, Brault’s control was a problem from the get go, and this would sink him.

Brault walked the first batter he faced, and that was a sign of things to come. Brault regularly missed to the arm side and struggled with command throughout the start. In 3 innings of work, Brault allowed 4 runs on five hits, four walks and zero strikeouts.

The Brault that took the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night is the Brault that has caused Pirate fans to pull their hair out so often during his tenure in Pittsburgh.

Nick Tropeano Impresses In Pirate Debut

As John Wehner mentioned on the broadcast, it is a shame no one will talk about the outing Nick Tropeano had on Tuesday night. In his first outing with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the righty pitched 4 fabulous shutout innings.

Tropeano allowed just three hits, did not walk a batter and struck out four. During his 4 innings of relief Tropeano worked quickly and efficiently. As Bob Walk would say, he worked fast, changed speeds, and threw strike.

In his outing Tropeano flashed some impressive stuff. While slider looked good, his splitter was nearly untouchable. It will be interesting to see if Tropeano gets an opportunity as a starting pitcher moving forward.

What’s Next

The second and final game of this abbreviated series is scheduled for 2:10 ET on Wednesday afternoon. Trevor Williams (3.70 ERA, 4.20 FIP) will take the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates as he looks to continue his bounce back 2020 campaign. The White Sox will counter with former American League Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel (2.65 ERA, 3.37 FIP).