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Pittsburgh Pirates: Grading the Series Split Against the Reds
Following a weekend series split against the Cincinnati Reds, it is time to dish out some grades for the Pittsburgh Pirates
The long struggle that the 2020 season has been for the Pittsburgh Pirates continued, to an extenet, over the weekend. In a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds, the Pirates picked up a pair of wins to split the series.
This four-game series included a double header on Friday night. This double headers included the oddity of the Reds being the home team in game two. This was because the double header was played to make up one of the two games in Cincinnati last month that was postpone due to a Reds’ player testing positive for COVID-19.
With the series split, the Pittsburgh Pirates are now 13-26 this season. This includes the team being just 1-9-2 in series played. That’s not good, folks! Then again, the team has fully embraces the #KrashForKumar life.
As we have done throughout the season, it is time to dish out grades for the performance of the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend. We will hand out grades for the performance of the Pirates’ starting pitchers, bullpen and offense in the series. Let’s dive in now, starting with the team’s starting pitchers.
Starting Pitchers
During Friday’s double header, Steven Brault started game one for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cody Ponce started game two. In game one, Brault struggled with control but was also hurt by poor defense. A Josh Bell error and two plays that should have been made that were not hurt Brault.
In the end, Brault allwed 4 runs, 3 earned, on six hits, two hits, a home run, and he struck out six. This came across 4.2 innings pitched.
As for Ponce in game two, he lasted just 4 innings. In his 4 innings of work he struck out four, walked just one and allowed just three hits. The problem was that two of the three hits he allowed were home runs. Due to this, he was charged with 3 runs in his 4 innings of work.
Saturday night, the recent struggles of Trevor Williams continued. In 6 innings of work, Williams allowed 5 runs on five hits, three home runs, he issued three walks, and struck out six. He now owns a 5.80 ERA and a 6.28 DRA on the season. After appearing to be on his way to bouncing back, Williams may now be a non-tender candidate this off-season.
Sunday afternoon Chad Kuhl appeared to be battling a blister issue on his finger as he struggled with control. After 3 innings of work and 64 pitches, Kuhl was pulled from the game. In his 3 innings of work, Kuhl allowed 2 runs on just two hits, but one of the two hits was a 2-run home run. While he struck out five, he also walked four.
The Verdict
It was not a good weekend for Pirate starting pitchers. Brault and Ponce both were ok on Friday night, but you would have liked to see both at least go 5 full innings. Williams struggled on Saturday night, and Kuhl battled control in his 3 innings on Sunday. Overall for the seires Pirate starting pitchers allowed 13 earned runs in 17.2 innings of work. Not good!
Grade: D
The Bullpen
Friday evening and into the night, the Pittsburgh Pirates got excellent work out of their bullpen. In the double header, the bullpen allowed two hits, walked a pair and struck out four in 5.2 scoreless innings of work.
Saturday night, the Pirate bullpen continued their strong work. Derek Holland pitched 2 innings, he did not walk a batter, he struck out three, and the lone hit he allowed was a solo home run. Kyle Crick then followed with a scoreless 9th inning, which included a strikeout. While Crick’s velocity continues to be down, his spin rates remain high giving his pitches plenty of movement.
Sunday afternoon the great bullpen work continued. Geoff Hartlieb struck out a pair in 2 scoreless innings of work, and this was followed by a 1-2-3 inning from Sam Howard. Chris Stratton then fired a scoreless 7th inning. Nik Turley and Richard Rodriguez each pitched a scorless inning as well.
The Verdict
Over the weekend the Pittsburgh Pirates got terrific work from their bullpen. In 14.2 innings of work, the bullpen allowed just 1 run on four hits, six walks, a home run, and 13 strikeouts. You can not ask for better than that.
Grade: A+
Bucco Bats
In Friday’s double header, the Pittsburgh Pirates had a pretty meh day offensively.
Game one saw the Bucs score just 2 runs, while walking just twoce and collecting just a pair of extra base hits. In the night cap, they did score 4 runs, but, again they walked just twice while collecting just two extra base hits.
The two extra base hits in game one were doubles, one by Gregory Polanco and one by Erik Gonzalez. Then in game two they got a pair of tirples, one from Ke’Bryan Hayes and one from Anthony Alford.
Satruday night the Bucs again mustered just 2 runs, this was despite drawing six walks and collecting seven hits. However, the team went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and they left 11 men on base.
As was the case on Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates had plenty of opportunities to score on Sunday. Once again, the offensive struggled mightily with RISP. The team went just 2-for-9 with RISP, but, thanks to great bullpen work, it was enough to pick up a victory.
Overall in the series, the team was just 4-for-33 with RISP. Woof.
Next. Ponce's Future in Pittsburgh. dark
The Verdict
The Pittsburgh Pirates had plenty of opportunities to score over the weekend. However, continued struggles with RISP was a major issue for the Pirates. Due to this, the overall grade for the Pirate offense in this series is not good.
Grade: D