The Pittsburgh Pirates opened their season with a 5-3 loss against the Boston Red Sox. Here now are the Takeaways & Throwaways from the loss
Welcome to Takeaways & Throwaways. Shortly after every Pittsburgh Pirates game, come to Pirates Breakdown to see our flash recap format. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about the game, without making you read the same boring recap you can see anywhere else.
FINAL: Boston 5, Pittsburgh 3
Takeaways
- We have to start with pre-fifth inning Gerrit Cole. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ number one starer looked the part of Ace for a large chunk of the game. A Pablo Sandovall infield single – of all things – portended doom, as Cole quickly imploded from there. Still, before that point, Cole was doing a fantastic job of mixing velocity and location.
- David Freese and Adam Frazier combined to go 3-for-7. Much like last year, Freese will be counted on to replace – or at the very least, approximate – Jung Ho Kang‘s production. Frazier has the skill set to earn more plate appearances as he continues to gain Clint Hurdle‘s trust. The second-year player reached base four times.
- The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen by and large looked the part of the improved relief corps that many thought it would be. Juan Nicasio, Felipe Rivero, Daniel Hudson and combined for four scoreless innings. Hudson in particular was able to dodge damage after putting two runners on by striking out three Red Sox hitters while averaging 96.1 mph on his fastball.
Throwaways
- It was a rough day for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ run creation efforts all around, but it was especially rough for Andrew McCutchen. While his bat speed was still there, the new Pirates right fielder went 0-4 with three strikeouts, the last of which came with two on in the seventh to end the inning.
- The Pirates as a whole were not able to string hits together well enough to mount a serious rally. The club scored three runs in the aforementioned seventh, but were helped by a wild pitch to advance runners into scoring position. Prior to the seventh, the Pirates had consecutive hits just once previous.
- At times, Josh Bell did not appear to be the selective hitter he showed last season. Case in point: Bell came up in the seventh with two on and no one out. Rick Porcello was starting to fatigue and may have been rattled in allowing the first two runners on. Bell grounded out on the first pitch as part of an 1-for-4 day, which came after he salvaged his outing by slugging a tall double off of the Green Monster in the ninth. It is hard to remember that Bell is basically a rookie, so we can give him a pass on knowing when a game situation dictates more patience.
Line Of the Day
Line of the Day honors goes to David Freese, who went 2-for-4.
W- Rick Porcello (1-0, 4.26 ERA) L- Gerrit Cole (0-1, 9.00 ERA) SV- Craig Kimbrel (1)
Vote in our Player of the Game Poll
After each game, win or lose, Pirates Breakdown will ask YOU for your Pittsburgh Pirates player of the game. Hop over to our twitter to cast your vote!
The Pirates drop game 1 to the Red Sox 5-3. Who is your Pirates player of the game?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) April 3, 2017
Up Next
The Pittsburgh Pirates will enjoy the customary “day after Opening Day” off-day tomorrow. The three-game series in Boston will resume on Wednesday, with Jameson Taillon toeing the rubber for the Pirates. He will duel against Boston’s prized offseason target, LHP Chris Sale, who carries a 3.34 ERA for his career in April.
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