Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways & Throwaways – Pirates Win Homecoming

Not even the tears of Pittsburgh Pirates’ fans on Monday could delay Neil Walker’s inevitable return to PNC Park for long. In a battle of players facing their old clubs on Tuesday, the Pirates bested the Mets 3-1 to take the first game of a traditional doubleheader. Here are the takeaways and throwaways from the first game.

Takeaways

• Despite a fan campaign that never gained much traction to boo Neil Walker, not a single boo or jeer could be heard from the sparse crowd in attendance. Pirates’ fans followed up a standing ovation before Walker flew out on a 1-0 pitch to leadoff the second with applause and cheers when the former second baseman followed that up with a single in the fourth.
• It always helps to have a succession plan, and by the end of last season, it became apparent Josh Harrison was the succession plan at second base for the eventual departure of Walker. Harrison went 3-5 with a triple, a stolen base, and a pair of singles. Now at .325, he is on pace to surpass his career high of .315 in 2014, when he finished second to Justin Morneau for the National League batting title.
• The Mets had their own succession plan for Jon Niese in the form of Steven Matz. Niese won this pitching battle after allowing four hits and two walks, while striking out two, over seven stellar innings. It marks the third straight game in which Niese went at least six innings and allowed one run or less.

Throwaways

• Neil Walker quickly reminded fans why the decision to trade him was a necessary, albeit difficult, one to make as Freese singled home Harrison in the first after Walker’s diving attempt failed. Then, he proceeded to do his best Derek Jeter impersonation standing around the home plate area tipping his cap and waving both his hand and his helmet, as the fans politely welcomed him back. His reaction was a bit over the top for the reception, making it a throwaway for game one.
• In baseball, few things can be as irksome as a batter watching a called third strike. One that comes close is swinging at pitches out of the zone, and the Pirates did plenty of that this afternoon. In his five innings Matz threw 101 pitches with just 58 being strikes. The Pirates struck out nine times with at least one man on base, and of those nine strikeouts, eight were of the swinging variety.
• In a doubleheader, how you finish is more critical than ever. Neftali Feliz has been almost automatic, but he struggled today, allowing a leadoff homerun to Curtis Granderson to break the shutout. It was his first run allowed since April 27th.

W – Jon Niese

L – Steven Matz

Line of the Night

In the traded players’ matchup, today’s line of the night belongs to Niese.

Final line: 7.0 IP – 4 H – 2 K – 2 BB – 91 pitches (59 strikes)

Up Next

Juan Nicasio could be making his final start for the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight in the second half of the doubleheader with Jameson Taillon scheduled to start tomorrow. Nicasio will square off against Jacob deGrom and a Mets lineup that will look to avoid losing the series all in one day. Nicasio (4.75 ERA) will try to break a string of five games allowing three or more earned runs. deGrom (2.62 ERA) will look to extend his streak of two games allowing one earned run or less.