Pittsburgh Pirates Play Arguably Best Series of the Season in St. Louis

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ST LOUIS, MO – JUNE 27: Max Kranick #45 of the Pittsburgh Pirates delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning at Busch Stadium on June 27, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Max Kranick makes history in first MLB start

Making his MLB debut, right-handed pitcher Max Kranick turned in a historic start on Sunday afternoon. One of the top pitching prospect in the Pirate farm system, Kranick made his MLB debut after making just seven starts above the High-A level.

Sunday afternoon Kranick proved why he earned this start and that he belongs in the Majors despite having a limited amount of starts at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Kranick flashed a power fastball that averaged 94.1 MPH, while also throwing a plus slider and a good changeup that kept Cardinal batters off balanced throughout his start.

This pitch mix led to Kranick pitching 5 perfect innings on Sunday afternoon. Kranick faced 15 Cardinal batters and retired all 15 of them while striking out 3. This made Kranick the first pitched since 1893 to pitch more than 2 innings in their MLB debut and retire each batter they faced.

Kranick needed just 50 pitches to get through his 5 perfect innings of work. If not for a long rain delay, he likely would have pitched at least another inning on Sunday afternoon. Perhaps even more due to his low pitch count.

While Kranick may not make another start for the Pittsburgh Pirates before he is optioned back to Triple-A, he certainly flashed why the Pirates are high on him and protected him from the Rule 5 Draft this past offseason. Sunday afternoon Kranick made a case for being a part of the core of the Pirate starting rotation in the coming years.

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