Takeaways and Throwaways – Pirates down fish, split series

The Pittsburgh Pirates downed the fish by a score of 3-1, splitting the four game series.

Welcome to Takeaways & Throwaways. Shortly after every Pittsburgh Pirates game, come to Pirates Breakdown to see our flash recap format. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about the game, without making you read the same boring recap you can see anywhere else.

FINAL: Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Miami Marlins 1

W – Ivan Nova (6-4, 2.83 ERA) L –Jeff Locke (0-2, 4.02 ERA) 

Takeaways

• Ivan Nova was very Ivan-nova like, working efficiently enough through the game’s early going. More importantly, Nova showed no ill effects with knee discomfort shown in his last start.
• Perhaps most impressively, Nova struck out the side on three swinging strikeouts in the second. Never a high-strikeout pitcher, Nova nonetheless left little to chance in the frame. He needed just 12 pitches to record the three strikeouts.
• Elias Diaz and Andrew McCutchen both had good days at the plate, each going 2-for-4. Diaz’s first-inning two-run double got the scoring started, and McCutchen looked aggressive in running out a triple on a shot to the right field gap.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates pounded out 11 hits today, giving them 27 hits over their past two games. Today was a fantastic example of the type of offense many felt this team would have throughout the season. Several times, the club was able to string together solid rallies by stacking hits together. If it weren’t for some quick draws on at-bats from John Jaso and Josh Bell with runners in scoring position, the score could have been much higher.
• Felipe Rivero recorded a second straight four-out save. He needed just 12 pitches to do it. I want to say more about how good Rivero is, but to do so would be incredibly redundant.

Throwaways

• Sloppy defense threatenedd to derail the Pittsburgh Pirates’ fantastic start to the game in the fourth inning. A likely double play ball was booted by David Frese, prolonging the inning considerably even if the team got out of the jam. That would not be the last time sloppiness was seen…
• Though he has looked considerably better lately than he did at earlier points in the season, Daniel Hudson made things interesting in teh top of the eighth, allowing light-hitting Ichiro Suzuki to put the Marlins on the board with a solo home run to right. He also put Dee Gordon on first before recording an out.  He got that out with a gutsy strikeout of Giancarlo Stanton on three pitches. He then got JT Riddle to ground out, and the Pirates got Gordon into a rundown that was felled by a ball popping out of Jordy Mercer‘s glove. All in all, it was a wild wacky inning for Hudson, and he was lucky to escape relatively unscathed.

Line of the Day

A lot of deserving choices today, but we’ll settle on Ivan Nova. The right-hander worked six clean innings, and allowed just one hit. He struck out four and walked none.

Up Next

Tomorrow is a special day for the Pittsburgh Pirates. They will happily welcome Jameson Taillon back for his first Major League start since his testicular cancer diagnosis and treatment. During his rehab assignment — 14.1 IP over three appearances — Taillon looked every bit of being ready to get back to doing what he does best. The task ahead of the club is a tough one, as they welcome the National League leading Colorado Rockies (yes, you read that right) for a three-game set. LHP Kyle Freeland will take the hill for Colorado.

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