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Pittsburgh Pirates: Grading the Series Loss in Milwaukee

By Marty Leap

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - AUGUST 30: The Pittsburgh Pirates stand for the singing of the national anthem before the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on August 30, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All players are wearing #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day, which was postponed April 15 due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - AUGUST 30: The Pittsburgh Pirates stand for the singing of the national anthem before the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on August 30, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All players are wearing #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day, which was postponed April 15 due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 30: Richard Rodriguez #42 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on August 30, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All players are wearing #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day, which was postponed April 15 due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 30: Richard Rodriguez #42 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches in the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on August 30, 2020 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All players are wearing #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson Day, which was postponed April 15 due to the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

The Bullpen

It was a rough weekend for the Pirate bullpen.

While Sam Howard retired the lone batter he faced and Dovydas Neverauskas pitched a scoreless 8th inning, Nick Mears allowed a solo home run in 1.2 innings of work Friday night.

Saturday night, three of the four Pirate relievers who pitched allowed a run. This included Richard Rodriguez allowing a walk-off two-run home run while blowing a save in the bottom of the 9th inning.

Sunday was the lone good day for the Pirate bullpen. Led by 2.2 scoreless innings from Nick Tropeano, Bucco relievers logged 6 scoreless innings.

Monday night the struggled continued as Nik Turley allowed a lead off doubled in the 8th inning of a tie game, and then Chris Stratton failed to strand this runner. This proved to be the winning run for the Brewers.

Overall, the Pirate bullpen allowed 7 earned runs on 11 hits, eight hits, three home runs, and 15 strike outs in 16+ innings of work. That comes out to a 4.86 ERA. Not horrible, but not good, either. Worst of all, in two of the three losses in the series the bullpen inherited either a lead or a tie game and blew it.

The Verdict

So far this season, the bullpen has caught a lot of flack for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Some of it has been warranted, some of it has not. That said, it was not a good weekend for the Bucco relievers in Milwaukee. If not for 6 scoreless innings in Sunday’s victory, this grade would be even worse.

Grade: C-

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