After officially being eliminated from the postseason, the Pittsburgh Pirates gave their fans a 8-4 win that included the team’s first cycle in twelve years. Here are the takeaways and throwaways from the victory.
Takeaways
- John Jaso hit for the first cycle at PNC Park on Wednesday, and the first cycle by a Pirate since 2004 and 24th overall for the franchise. He got the most elusive hit, a triple, in the seventh inning when his hit got stuck in the base of the center field wall. Along with his four hits, Jaso also knocked in five runs in the big win. He certainly is ending the season on a strong note and is under contract for next season. He has lost playing time lately due to the emergence of Josh Bell, but he showed on Wednesday that he can still be valuable to the team moving forward.
- Jameson Taillon ended his rookie campaign with a great start, firing off six innings of one run ball. The only blemish on Taillon’s line are the three free passes he allowed, but considering that he only allowed one hit it was a very successful outing (unfortunately that one hit was deposited in the left field seats by Anthony Rizzo). Now with about half a season of experience under his belt, Taillon will be looked at as one of the top starting pitchers for the team next season.
- Sean Rodriguez‘s career year continued with a two hit performance and three runs scored. Rodriguez now has a slash line of .274/.352/.521 and has taken advantage of his opportunities since Josh Harrison was injured and shut down for the season. Hopefully he’ll be back with the Pirates next season, but that is a discussion that will happen in a few months.
Throwaways
- There weren’t many downsides in the win over the Cubs, but Adam Frazier did drop a very routine pop up in the sixth inning. Fortunately Taillon was able to pick his fielder up and strand the runner on the base paths so the error did not cost the team a run. David Freese followed Frazier’s error in the sixth with his own error in the seventh, missing a throw to second with the hopes of starting a double play. Instead, a run scored and Jared Hughes had his evening end prematurely.
- Speaking of Hughes, he had a rough night in his third of an inning of work. Hughes hit Addison Russell and walked Albert Almora Jr. before the Freese error. He used 18 pitches (nine for strikes) to record just one out, so Hughes will need to be more efficient his next time out. There will no doubt be some changes to the bullpen next year, and with Hughes heading to arbitration once again, his status with the team is far from being written in stone.
W – Jameson Taillon (5-4)
L – Jake Arrieta (18-8)
The Pirates defeat the Cubs 8-4. Who is your player of the game?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) September 29, 2016
Line of the Night
Tonight’s Line of the Night goes to John Jaso, who had his first four hit game of his career.
Jaso was perfect at the plate and hit for the first cycle by a Pirate in 12 years since Daryle Ward did it in St. Louis in 2004. As mentioned above, he also drove in five runs as the team pummeled Jake Arrieta for seven runs over five innings. Hopefully Jaso can keep the hot bat going in the series finale on Thursday and the last series of the season in St. Louis this weekend.
Up Next
The final game at PNC Park in 2016 begins on Thursday at 7:05pm, featuring a pitching match up of Rob Zastryzny (1-0, 1.46) and Ivan Nova (12-8, 4.47). Zastryzny will be making his first start since joining the Cubs, he has worked out of the bullpen since he made his debut on August 19th. For Nova, his last two starts have been subpar compared to the five quality starts he recorded before that. He lasted just four innings in his last start against Washington on September 24th.
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