Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways & Throwaways – Another Win in Milwaukee

The Pittsburgh Pirates took the second game in the final series in Milwaukee this year with a 4-1 win on Wednesday. Here are the takeaways and throwaways from Pittsburgh’s sixth consecutive win at Miller Park.

Takeaways

• Chad Kuhl tossed added another win to his growing total during his rookie campaign. He went six innings and allowed one run on five hits and a walk. He also struck out six and lowered his ERA to 3.73. Kuhl’s next start is scheduled to be against the Chicago Cubs on Monday, a much tougher test than he faced on Wednesday. He has put together a very strong first season and will certainly be in the mix for a rotation spot in 2017.
• Sean Rodriguez clubbed his 18th home run, and sixth on the current road trip in the fourth inning. Since Josh Harrison hit the disabled list, Rodriguez has seen more playing time and has taken advantage of it, and the Pirates are certainly benefiting from it. But with free agency looming this winter, Jason Rollison wonders if he may now be too expensive for the Pirates.
• Andrew McCutchen also hit a home run on Wednesday, his 24th of the season. He went two for four at the plate as his batting average slowly creeps up to .260 and also collected his 75 RBI. It’s been a tough season for McCutchen, but it’s nice to see that he is at least turning in respectable numbers in two of the more traditional categories. There are plenty of players who would like to have stats like that, yet this is considered a down year for him.

Throwaways

• Josh Bell had his worst game at the plate during his young career, going hitless in four at-bats with three strikeouts. Obviously one game is nothing to worry about, especially given some of his offensive heroics early in the season. Rather it just shows that Bell, like all players, is going to have growing pains as he adjusts to the major league level.

W – Chad Kuhl (5-3)

L – Jimmy Nelson (8-15)

S – Tony Watson (15)

The #Pirates defeat the #Brewers 4-1 tonight. Who is your player of the game?

— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) September 22, 2016

Line of the Night

Tonight’s Line of the Night goes to Chad Kuhl.

Kuhl turned in six great innings against the Brewers, his eighth quality start in the twelve times he has gotten the ball to start the game this year. Kuhl has shown an ability to generate ground balls while still striking out a respectable number, like the six he had on Wednesday. He is certainly one to watch the rest of the season since he’ll have a great opportunity to show the team what he can do for them in 2017.

Up Next

The series continues on Thursday at 8:10pm when the Pirates send Ryan Vogelsong (3-5, 4.87) to the mound to face off against Chase Anderson (8-11, 4.47). Vogelsong has been struggling as of late, giving up a total of 12 runs (10 earned) in just 8.2 innings of work in his last two starts (both against the Cincinnati Reds). Anderson has faced the Pirates four times this year, most recently he pitched five shutout innings against them on September 4th. Since the Pirates have seen him multiple times this season, hopefully the familiarity will lead to a win.