Pittsburgh Pirates Drop First of Three in Los Angeles

Monday night the Pittsburgh Pirates fell 2-1 in the opener of their three-game series opener aganinst the Los Angeles Dodgers

There are plenty of people in baseball who are easy to root for. One of these players is undoubtedly Steven Brault, who Monday night led the Pittsburgh Pirates into battle in the first game of their three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.

Brault has an infectious personality and is truly a ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’ candidate. He can play the guitar, sing opera, is a podcaster and is also a Major League starting pitcher. Dating back to May 2019 Brault appears to be turning a corner as a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite the Pirate loss on Monday night, this continued as Brault turned in his third strong start in as many starts this season after he missed the first four months of the season due to a lat strain.

Steven Brault turns in another strong start

Brault put together another strong start for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. The lefty pitched 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits while issuing just a single walk in his 5.2 innings of work.

Brault also struck out 4 Dodger batters in 5.2 innings pitched. In his 3 starts this season Brault now owns a 1.84 ERA, 3.93 FIP, 3.6% walk rate and a 21.5% strikeout rate across 14.2 innings pitched.

Since returning from the IL Brault has pitched extremely well for the Pirates. Down the stretch he will be looking to finish the 2021 season strong. If this happens it could lead to Brault having a strong trade value this offseason.

Wasted scoring opportunities

In the first 3 innings of the game the Pittsburgh Pirates had opportunities to score. Ke’Bryan Hayes singled with one out in the 1st inning but was stranded at first base. This was the least of their wasted early opportunities.

Jacob Stallings walked with one out in the 2nd inning and Gregory Polanco singles. However, this was followed by a Rodolfo Castro strikeout and a Steven Brault ground out. Then in the 3rd inning Hayes walked with one out. This was followed by a broken bat single to right field by Bryan Reynolds. On the play Hayes attempted to take third base and, despite a high throw by Brett McKinney, Hayes was out easily at third base.

On the Reynolds hit Hayes never should have been sent to third base, especially after he initially slowed down when rounding second base. All of this led to a frustrating first 3 innings for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they failed to score despite recording 3 hits and drawing a pair of walks. This included going 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position.

In addition to costing the Pirates an opportunity it have runners on first and second with just one out, the Hayes play also saw the Pirates give an out away. Playing a team like the Dodgers you can not afford to give outs away, especially when you’re a scuffling team like the Pirates.

These struggles continued in the 5th inning when Castro walked to start the inning and Hayes drew a two-out walk. Despite getting two runners on base, the Pirates once again failed to score in the 5th inning.

Even when the Pirates scored in the 7th inning, they wasted an opportunity to score more.

Gregory Polanco was hit by a pitch to start an inning, Castro reached on an error and then Wilmer Difo laid down a bunt as a pinch hitter. A poor throw the got past first base allowed Polanco to score, while Castro and Difo advanced to second and third base.

Hoy Park then hit a fly ball to left field that appeared to be a sacrifice fly. However, Castro waited too long to tag up on the play and didn’t score. Hayes then struck out and Colin Moran grounded out to end the inning.

Home runs sink the bullpen

Anthony Banda took over for the Pirates in the 7th inning with the Bucs leading 1-0. Banda retired 3 of the 4 batters he faced, but the lone batter he allowed to reach was McKinney who hit a solo home run to tie the game.

Chasen Shreve took the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the bottom of the 8th inning with the game tied at 1. Shreve, like Banda, retired 3 of the 4 batters he faced. However, also like Banda, the lone batter he allowed to reach base came via a solo home run.

With one out in the bottom of the 8th and the game tied at 1 Max Muncy hit a solo blast off of Shreve. The 26th home run of the season for the potential National League MVP in Muncy gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lea.

What’s next?

Game two of the series is scheduled for 10:10 PM ET on Tuesday night. Wil Crowe (5.27 ERA, 5.87 FIP) will start for the Pirates. As we discussed in our series preview, Crowe has pitched well since July 1 despite poor overall numbers this season. Former American League Cy Young Award winner David Price (3.60 ERA, 4.16 FIP) is scheduled to toe the rubber for the Dodgers.