Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways & Throwaways – Defensive Woes

The Pirates defense came up short as the team lost its first game in a week to the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates managed to come back from three late deficits but eventually fell by a score of 6-5.

Takeaways

• Pirates’ pitching coach Ray Searage turned 61 today and his pitchers helped him celebrate with tremendous performances over the weekend. Juan Nicasio, Francisco Liriano, and Jeff Locke went a combined 2-0 with a no decision against the Reds, giving up 17 hits with 14 strikeouts and three walks over three games. Searage has been a savior of sorts for the Pirates with his ability to work with pitchers and bring them to glory with the Pirates.
• The Pirates fell behind three different times late in the game against the Reds, only to come back and even the game up with clutch hitting by Matt Joyce, Starling Marte, and John Jaso. Jaso’s second home run in the series came with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and gave us some free baseball on this Sunday afternoon.

Throwaways

• The Pirates’s struggles against rookie pitchers in their major league debut continued on Sunday against Tim Adleman. The Pirates were sat down six times on strikes in the first two times through the order. Gregory Polanco was the only Pirate to record a hit through the first five innings with his single in the second and a home run in the fifth. It seems that the Pirates really struggle against these rookie pitchers going back the past couple years.
• After cruising through the first five innings, the wheels fell off for Locke in the sixth inning when he gave up three runs on two hits while allowing two walks. Locke had only given up one hit through the first five innings and ended up pitching seven solid innings for the Pirates.

W –  Blake Wood (3-0)

L – Ryan Vogelsong (1-1)

Line of the night –

In his major league debut, Tim Adleman threw six plus innings while giving up three hits and striking out six. The only blemish on Adleman’s game was the river shot he gave up to Polanco in the fifth inning. He was also charged with a run in the seventh inning when Sean Rodriguez tripled in Starling Marte.

Up Next –

The Chicago Cubs will pay a visit to PNC Park for the next three days for a big NL Central matchup with the Pirates. This is the first series between the top two teams in the NL Central. The Cubs are off to a 17-5 start and are in first place in the division.

Thanks for checking us out here at Pirates Breakdown. Please make sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook for the best Pirates coverage all year long!