The beginning of this game was very strange for me to watch. Usually when I see guys like Dustin Pedroia and Jon Lester and Kevin Youkiliis on TV, I’m watching playoff baseball or Sunday Night Baseball. Both in my head and for all realistic intents and purposes, these guys exist in an entirely different baseball universe than the Pirates, who I watch on weeknights on my computer, do. And yet, tonight they were all on the same field. Andrew McCutchen batting against Lester, Paul Maholm pitching to Youkilis and Pedroia.
The Pirates never looked out of place against the Red Sox, though. They fell behind 1-0 early, but they worked Lester deep into the count all night long, somehow forcing him into 1-7 pitches over 6 innings despite just one walk. They only managed three runs, but that was somehow enough for Maholm and the bullpen over the course of the evening.
That’s what seemed particularly great about this one. The Pirates faced up to one of the best teams in baseball with one of their best starters on the mound and they came away with a win. With the game on the line, Tony Watson shut down Adrian Gonzalez and Dan McCutchen shut down Kevin Youkilis and Jose Veras shut down David Ortiz and the Pirates got all the big outs and hits they needed and found themselves with a well-deserved 3-1 win.
In the grand scheme of a season, one game is one game is one game. The Pirates aren’t any more or less likely to finish .500 or contend at 38-37 than they were at 37-37. They might drop the next two to the Sox in ugly fashion. But this win tonight sure felt like an accomplishment as it happened. I suppose it’s up to the Pirates from here on out to make sure that it means something.
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