One of the things that I’ve really liked about the last few games for the Pirates (and if it wasn’t already clear, I’ve liked quite a few things) is that the Pirates have been playing opponents that have made mistakes, and the Pirates have seriously cashed in on them. Against the Indians, Asdrubal Cabrera booted balls all over the field on Saturday and Sunday and the Pirates made the Tribe pay almost every single time. On Thursday, Bryan Dozier bobbled an easy force out and Andrew McCutchen immediately followed with a three-run double. On Friday, the Tigers handed the Pirates two runs after misplaying an AJ Burnett sacrifice bunt two different ways, and the Pirates made those runs stand up for a win.
There were plenty of good things on Friday, actually (‘Cutch staying hot, Pedro’s absolutely laced single in the second, Burnett getting out of a big jam in the sixth with Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder up, Hurdle having the appropriate hook for Burnett tonight, Barajas’s hilarious belly-flop into home after scoring from first on the badly misplayed Burnett bunt), but after so many years of bad baseball, I absolutely love seeing the Pirates take advantage of a team playing a bad game.
37-32 is a pretty good record to have after 69 games.
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