Pittsburgh Pirates: Buccos Fall Short in 2020 Season Finale

Despite another big game from Ke’Bryan Hayes, the Pittsburgh Pirates were defeated by the Cleveland Indians 8-6 in their 2020 season finale.

On Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to end their 2020 season on a high note by picking up a series victory over the Cleveland Indians. After last Saturday night’s sparkling performance by Joe Musgrove and the youngster Ke’Bryan Hayes, leading to an 8-0 victory, fans were left wondering what they could muster this afternoon.

Despite jumping out to an early lead, it was not enough as the Pittsburgh Pirates were defeated by the Cleveland Indians 8-6. With the loss, the Pirates finish the 2020 season with a 19-41 record.

Now, let’s dive into Sunday afternoon’s action!

JT Brubaker

JT Brubaker was coming off of an excellent performance last Monday against the Cubs in which he only surrendered 2 earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched. Brubaker pitched a decent game Sunday afternoon, but considering what we’ve seen from the starting pitching as of late, it seemed rather pedestrian. Through the first 5 innings, Brubaker pitched a rather clean game allowing only five hits and 2 earned runs.

The 6th inning, however, was a shaky one for Brubaker allowing a hit and a walk with the first two he faced. He then proceeded to give up his second gopher ball of the afternoon to Franmil Reyes. He left the game in the 6th inning allowing, 5 earned runs on seven hits. The rest of his line read 5+ innings pitched, two walks and three strikeouts on 89 pitches. Out of those 89 pitches, he threw 50 strikes resulting in a 56% strike rate.

While this was not the end to the season Brubaker was hoping for, he proved his worth to the Pittbsurgh Pirates in 2020. Outside of one disaster start against the Chicago White Sox, Brubaker was terrific both as a starting pitcher and a reliever. He should enter spring training 2021 with a legitimate shot at earning a spot in the Pirate starting rotation.

The Bullpen

Geoff Hartlieb came on in the 6th inning to try and maintain the lead. Hartlieb is one of the bullpen arms that will likely start the 2021 season pitching in high leverage situations for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After giving up two hits, he settled down and managed to get out of the inning unscathed.

Next came Nik Turley in the bottom of the 7th. Turley has been another pleasant surprise. It’s also nice to have a lefty like Turley in your bullpen most days. The keyword there is most days because today, he didn’t look sharp at all. The first two batters he faced, he gave up a single and a double in a span of seven pitches.

Carlos Santana then gets another double on the day, scoring two YIKES! Turley let in another off of a sac fly, but he managed to get out of the inning. In his 1 inning of work, Turley failed to strikeout a batter and allowed 3 runs on two hits.

The 100 MPH man Blake Cederlind then came on to pitch the bottom of the 8th. Although he has struggled a bit, Pirate fans are hopeful that he can manage to become an integral part of this bullpen in 2021. Cederlind pitched a very clean inning, retiring all three batters he faced while recording a strikeout. If anything, he kept the Pirates in the game and gave them a shot to either tie or take the lead.

The Offense

After scoring 8 runs on Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to match that mark or come close to it. Well, they came close, scoring 6 runs, but it was to no avail with the Indians scoring 8 Sundya afternoon.

Some of the key contributors from today were, of course, Hayes who went 2-4 with his 5th home run, and he drew a walk. Someone who has been coming on as of late also had a solid day in Jose Osuna. He went 3-4 falling just a triple short of the cycle. Although this game ended in a loss I’m still super encouraged by some guys for next year.

Final Thoughts

• Ke’Bryan Hayes will win National League Rookie of the Year next year.
• Bryan Reynolds will have a bounce back year.
• We need Josh Bell to regain his consistency.
• KUMAR HERE WE COME!