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Pittsburgh Pirates: Returning Players, Bullpen Carry Team to Series Victory
Two key hitters returning from the injured list, as well as an excellent weekend from the bullpen led to a series victory for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Miami Marlins
Quietly, the Pittsburgh Pirates have played some quality baseball in the last 10 days. Over the weekend the Pirates hosted the Miami Marlins at PNC Park for a four-game series. While the Pirates were unable to find a victory on Sunday afternoon to complete the four-game sweep, they were still able to take three of four and win the series.
With this series victory the Pittsburgh Pirates have now won two of their last three series played. This puts the Pirates at 5-4 in their last 9 games played. This has improve the team’s record on the season to 23-35 on the season.
While a 23-35 record is undoubtedly poor it is good enough to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a better record than the Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers. It also puts them within striking distance of the Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins and Washington Nationals. Which, hey, in a rebuilding year things could certainly be worse.
All of that said, let’s examine what went well for the Pirates in their series victory against the Marlins. As two major factors carried the weekend for the Bucs.
Two key bats return from the injured list
When series began on Thursday night budding Pirate superstar Ke’Bryan Hayes returned from the injured list. Hayes made an immediate impact in Thursday night’s victory going 2-for-4 with a triple and a pair of dazzling defensive plays.
For the weekend Hayes went 7-for-18 with a home run, a double and a triple. Hayes always drew a walk while striking out just 3 times. He also flashed why he has the ability to quickly become one of the best defensive third basemen in baseball with steady, and at times spectacular, defense at the hot corner.
This weekend was also the first time Hayes had the opportunity to play in front of fans at PNC Park. For both Hayes and fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates this was a special moment, as it was the first of countless opportunities for fans to cheer Hayes on in the coming years.
Despite losing on Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates got another important bat back in their lineup. This was the bat of first baseman and clean up hitter Colin Moran. In his return from the IL the lefty slugger was 1-for-4 with a 1st inning double and RBI.
Getting Hayes and Moran back in the lineup is a massive boost for the Pirates. Hayes is the team’s best player and Moran is one of their four best hitters. Getting these two back helps provide some much needed length and depth in the Pirate lineup.
While, overall, the Pirate lineup still has plenty of holes, those holes are not at the top of the lineup. Adam Frazier, Hayes, Bryan Reynolds, Moran and Jacob Stallings give the Pirates a very formidable 1-5 in their starting lineup.
Yes, the Pittsburgh Pirates will continue to have offensive woes this season. That said, the top 5 in their starting lineup is one of the best in the National League Central and can help improve the offensive output.
Another big series for the Pirate bullpen
Throughout the season the Pirate bullpen has been one of the best in the National League. This continued over the weekend against the Marlins and the bullpen was probably the biggest reason why the Pirates were able to win their four-game series against Miami.
Tyler Anderson started for the Pirates on Thursday night and pitched 5.1 strong innings. While Clay Holmes allowed both runners he inherited to score, those runs came on a pair of weekly hit ground balls that were placed properly. Holmes would strikeout a batter in a scoreless inning of work. Behind Holmes, Sam Howard, Kyle Crick and Richard Rodriguez combined to pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of work. This included Howard working out of a jam in the 7th inning that saw the Marlins put runners on second and third with just one out.
Friday night Mitch Keller pitched just 2 innings before getting pulled. Duane Underwood Jr., Chasen Shreve and Chris Stratton combined to strikeout 7 batters while allowing just 3 hits in 7 scoreless innings of work. It was the work of these three players that led the way for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their victory on Friday night.
Saturday afternoon the Pirate bullpen once again helped lead the way to victory. Howard pitched 2 scoreless innings and David Bednar pitched a scoreless 8th inning before Rodriguez allowed a run in the 9th. Crick then pitched 2 scoreless innings, allowing an unearned run due to the runner on second base rule, and Holmes pitched a scoreless 12th inning before the Pirates walked it off in the bottom of the 12th.
Even in Sunday’s loss, the Pirate bullpen stepped up for the Bucs. Making his 2021 debut after starting the season on the IL lefty Austin Davis pitched a 1-2-3 7th inning. rule 5 pick Luis Oviedo would go on to pic the 8th and 9th innings, striking out 4 in 2 scoreless innings of work.
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Overall in the weekend series the Pirate bullpen pitched 20.2 innings. In these 20.2 innings of work Pirate relievers allowed just 1 earned run on 11 hits, 6 walks, 19 strikeouts and no home runs allowed. It was all hands on deck from the Pirate bullpen this weekend and everyone pitched well helping the Bucs secure a series victory.