Pittsburgh Pirates Squander Opportunity to Sweep Four-Game Series

While the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to split their four-game series in Miami against the Marlins, it is a series the Pirates easily could have swept

As they prepare for the upcoming MLB All-Star Break, the Pittsburgh Pirates are currently entrenched in a three-city 10 game road trip. The most recent leg of this trip saw the Bucs play. four-game series in Miami against the Marlins.

The trip got off to a very strong start for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After dropping the first game of the series in Milwaukee, the team reeled off four wins in a row. This gave the Pirates a rare series victory in Milwaukee, a 2-0 series lead in their four-game series in Miami, and a 4-1 start to the road trip.

Well, in the final two games in Miami things started to go sideways. What is most frustrating about this is that the Pirates easily could have, and probably should have, swept this four-game set in Miami.

After splitting their four-game set in South Beach the Pittsburgh Pirates are now 4-3 on their road trip. Before looking ahead to their three-game series in Denver heading into the All-Star Break, let’s take a look back at their series split in Miami.

Usually reliable back end of the bullpen blows back-to-back saves

Through the first two games of the series the bullpen was terrific for the Pirates. Chase De Jong and Yerry De Los Santos combined to pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief of Keller in game one. Game two was a bullpen game that saw Pirate relievers allow just 2 runs in 9 innings.

Game three, things started to go sideways for the bullpen. Duane Underwood Jr. issued a walk and hit a pair of batters while allowing 2 runs in the 8th inning. After De Los Santos pitched a scoreless 9th inning to force extra innings, David Bednar got shelled in the 10th inning. Bednar walked a batter, allowed three hits that were all 96+ MPH off the bat, and the lone swing-and-miss he generated came on a wild pitch that allowed the winning run to score from third base.

When Thompson exited the series finale the Pirates were trialing 1-0. With the help of De Jong pitching 1.1 scoreless innings of relief, the Pirates were able to tie the game at 1. After the Pirates took a 2-1 lead in the 11th inning, Derek Shelton went to Wil Crowe to close the game out. Well, Crowe allowed a single, hit a batter, and then surrendered a walk off triple.

With better performance from the back end of the Pirate bullpen in games three and four they would have at least won the series, if not swept it. While Underwood Jr., Bednar, and Crowe have all had strong seasons, Bednar and Crowe both have been used a lot for mid-July. Especially Bednar having multiple 30+ pitch outings and a 50+ pitch outing all within a few weeks of each other.

It is very possible that Shelton’s over use of Bednar and Crowe is starting to catch up to them. Especially Bednar who has been battling a back issue and has not looked right for a few weeks. Some of this blame also falls on Ben Cherington for not giving Shelton more high leverage arms in his bullpen. Regardless, the All-Star Break should do the bullpen some good.

Pirate offense wastes too many scoring opportunities

Failing to bet the big hit has been a major issue for the Pirates all season. In the final two games of the series this trend continued. While, yes, there were some clutch hits for their late/extra inning rallies, they often times left runs of the field.

In game three Michael Chavis doubled to tie the game in the 9th inning. This gave the Pirates runners on second and third with no one out, they failed to score again. Ke’Bryan Hayes had a big two-out hit in the 10th inning to make their lead grow from 3-2 to 4-2, but Jake Marisnick was thrown out by a mile trying to score on the play. Marisnick never should have been sent.

Game four saw the Pirates get runners on the corners with no one out in 7th inning. Well… Daniel Vogelbach struck out looking on a pitch that was prime to drive, Oneil Cruz was caught stealing second, and Marisnick inexplicably starting to slowing walk toward home after Kevin Newman drew a two-out walk, only to get thrown out to end the inning.

A one-put triple by Hayes in the 1st inning was stranded, as was a one-out 4th inning double by Diego Castillo. After Cruz drew a one-out walk in the 9th inning, he was once again caught stealing. Ben Gamel hit a go-ahead one-out double in the 10th inning, Marisnick was then intentionally walked but both runners were left on base.

Across the final two games of the series Pirate batters went just 6-for-26 with runners in scoring position. This led to them leaving 18 runners on base across these two games. Even with the bullpen blowing saves in both of these games, with one or two more hits with RISP, odds are, the Pirates would have either won the series or swept it.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have no one to blame but themselves for not at least winning, if not sweeping their four-game series in Miami. The final two games of the series saw the Pirates lose the games more than the Marlins win them. To call it frustrating would be sugarcoating things.