Pittsburgh Pirates: Grading the Series Loss in Milwaukee

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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-