Pittsburgh Pirates Hero and Goat – A Disappointing Fishing Trip

In our revamped series recap, we take a look at the hero and goat of each Pittsburgh Pirates series.

The Pittsburgh Pirates came off one of their most successful road trips of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. They returned home to PNC Park with their heads held high and proceeded to play an absolute stinker of a series against the Miami Marlins.

During each game of the series, the Pirates held a lead. They weren’t able to finish the job and as a result, the team was swept.  This series was a good opportunity for the Pirates to put some distance between themselves and the Marlins in the wildcard standings. Instead, they now find themselves 1.5 games behind the Fish in the standings.

Hero of the Series:

When your team is swept, it’s a bit difficult to find a lot to be positive about, but that’s my job. Despite the team’s overall poor performance, there was a bright spot. My hero of the series was Josh Harrison.

Josh Harrison went 4/12 (.333) in the series with two RBIs with a double and a sacrifice fly. In addition to his offensive contributions, Harrison had a fairly solid series defensively as he made several above average plays in the series.

Harrison has taken off during his time back in the lead-off spot. A lot of people were curious as to Clint Hurdle‘s rationale for putting a guy with such poor plate discipline in the lead-off spot, but all Harrison has done in that time is hit. Sometimes the manager knows a thing or two about his ballclub. A novel idea, I know.

Goat of the Series:

There were plenty of worthy candidates for this award, but to me, the answer is fairly obvious. My goat of the series is Andrew McCutchen.

In the Giants series, Andrew McCutchen was absolutely fantastic and followed that up with a fairly poor performance. He went 2/12 (.166) with a run scored in the series. He also committed an error in the field. However, the moment that cemented his status as goat was the game-ending double play in game one. With the Pirates trailing by a run, with the bases loaded, McCutchen grounded into a double play to lose the game.

However, the moment that cemented his status as the goat was the game-ending double play in game one. With the Pirates trailing by a run, with the bases loaded, McCutchen grounded into a double play to lose the game. He was far from the only problem in the series, but when your former MVP has a chance to win the game, you expect a little bit better than a double play. It was frustrating and sort of a microcosm of his 2016 season. He had a chance to make an impact but failed.

Final Thoughts

The West Coast road trip gave the fans a ton to feel optimistic about. This series pretty much squashed all of that goodwill. The Pirates never really were in control of any of the three games. They held leads in all three games, but for the most part, let them get away fairly quickly. The Marlins played like a desperate team and really earned this sweep. The Pirates have no one to blame but themselves for this result.

The Pirates really had a great opportunity to bury the Fish and knock them out of contention, but now the Marlins are ahead of the Pirates in the standings and it’s another team the Pirates need to catch and pass as they attempt to make the postseason for the fourth consecutive season.

I am not going to accuse the Pirates of overlooking the Marlins, but it certainly seemed like the team lacked focus in this series. They came out really flat in all three games and never played with any urgency. This is pennant race baseball, there is zero excuse for coming out listless against any opponent, especially one that is competing for the same playoff spot as you.

Baseball is an unforgiving sport as the Pirates cannot lick their wounds as the Houston Astros come to town for three games beginning tonight. In game one, Jameson Taillon takes on Doug Fister. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05pm.

Series Result: Pirates lose 3-0

2016 win/loss record: 62-59

2016 series record: 20-16-3

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