Final Score: Pirates 8 Nationals 4
Why The Pirates Won: The Pirate offense scored 8 runs yesterday to fall one run short of averaging 8 runs per game over the first 5 games. Not only does that explain why they won yesterday, but why they are 5-0. The offense could "only" manage to score 3 runs when 2 were out yesterday. All the starters got at least one hit except for Olivares. Michael Taylor surprisingly led the way with 3 hits, 2 runs scored and an RBI. Taylor, a lifetime .240 hitter, right now is going at a .471 clip. Andrew McCutchen may have found a new way to come out of a horrendous slump. His first two plate appearances he struck out and did not look good doing it. Then he took a 90 MPH slider right on the knee. It looked like he might even come out of the game. He hung in there, stayed in, and in his next 3 AB's he went double, single, walk and drove in a run. Five players got 2 hits each. For the game the Pirates scored 8 runs on 15 hits and walked 6 times. It's a good thing the offense is on fire because for the 5th consecutive game the Pirate starter could not get through the 6th inning. Marco Gonzales did not have a bad line for 5 innings giving up 1 run on 4hits, walking 2, while striking out 2. In the top of the 6th, he could not get an out and a 13 pitch at bat by Lane Thomas seemed to take it out of him. The bullpen did give up the tying runs in the bottom of the 7th when Roansy Contreras gave up a 2-run homer to knot the score 3-3. Then the new Lumber Company took over and scored 3 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th to win going away.
Key Moments Of The Game: The first came in the bottom of the 6th when Marco Gonzales seemed to run out of gas after throwing 77 pitches. He gave up a single and a walk to put runners on first and second with no one out. In came Roansy Contreras to make his 2024 debut. He got out of the jam getting a strike out, ground out, and strike out on 11 pitches. Unfortunately, he gave up the tying runs on a 2-run homer the next inning. The Pirates bounced right back in the top of the 8th to score 3 runs with 2 of those coming with 2 outs. The big hits were a double by Conner Joe, and 2 out hits by Hayes and McCutchen. The bullpen really did not have to face a high leverage situation again and it was 5 in a row for the new Lumber Company.
Next Game: Wednesday, the Nationals in D.C. The rotation starts over with Mitch Keller taking the hill for the 2nd time this season. Maybe he will start a new trend for the rotation, like contributing to a win. We all know that hitting is a sometime thing. The most runs scored in the modern era is 1067 by the 1931 New York Yankees in a 154-game season. That is averaging almost 7 runs per game. The all-time record is 1220 runs by the Boston Beaneaters. I did hear that they stunk in the field or was that they stunk up the field. They set the record in 1894. I have a feeling that both records are safe. If the Pirates kept up their current pace, they would score about 1260 runs. I think Michael Taylor has a better chance of winning the batting title.
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