Last year, Gerrit Cole bore down to make one of his best starts of the season to beat an American League team by one run to earn the Pirates their 82nd win of the season, breaking the longest franchise losing streak in North America and setting off celebrations all over Pirateland.
Tonight, Gerrit Cole bore down to make one of his best starts of the season to beat an American League team by one run to earn the Pirates their 82nd win of the season, and every Pirate fan briefly noted that the win clinched a winning season on their way to find some way to get the Brewers and Cardinals on the TV. I won’t lie; it’s a really nice feeling to have this win blend in with all of the other ones on the way to something bigger.
Anyway, Cole has to be the main story here, I think. The Red Sox lineup was not hugely impressive tonight, but Cole more or less cruised through seven innings with only one hiccup in the third. He put the Sox down in order in the first, second, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, striking out seven and walking no one. He got through those seven on 93 pitches, which is a really good sign given the way that he’s been fading since his return from the DL. He did get into trouble in the eighth (back-to-back singles to start the inning from Christian Vazquez and Garin Cecchini that got him pulled from the game), but going seven strong and looking solid up to the 90 pitch mark is really encouraging, Red Sox lineup or not.
The Pirate offense wasn’t quite as impressive tonight as they have been, but they were good enough. They made Brandon Workman labor quite a bit in the first inning, with two singles, two walks, and an error. They only scored once (Ike Davis drew a bases-loaded walk), but they did at least take Workman over the 30 pitch barrier. They scored again in the fourth when Chris Stewart followed a controversial Jordy Mercer double (the way it hopped over the third base bag made it look like it could’ve been called a foul ball) with a single, and then again in the fifth with the latest of Starling Marte’s monstrous September home runs. Those three runs were enough, though it was close.
It was close because Mark Melancon got into a jam in the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead, then managed to get out of it with one of the oddest plays you’ll ever see: a bouncing ball down the third base line that hit Jemile Weeks in fair territory as he dove back to the base. I’ve watched the replay about a million times and as far as I can tell, the umps got the call right. Sometimes, when things are breaking right for a team, they’re really breaking right for them.
The Pirates have won 11 of their last 13 to run their record to 82-70. The Cardinals and Brewers are currently tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, but the Cardinals have the winning run on second base with no one out. They will go into this weekend series with at least a 2 1/2 game lead on the Brewers. This sweep of the Red Sox was fun, but it goes right out the window now that the Brewers are coming to town. I’ve been joking for months about “the biggest game of the season” or “the biggest series of the season,” but we’ve finally reached it. It’s this weekend.
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