Last night, the Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the Chicago Cubs in heartbreaking fashion.
After scorching Jake Arrieta for the second straight time, the Pittsburgh Pirates held a three run lead heading into the bottom of the eight inning. Life seemed nice at that point. Neftali Feliz then gave up a two-run homer to Willson Contreras.
The following inning, Tony Watson came out for the save, clinging to a one run lead. After getting Ben Zobrist to fly out, Watson got ahead of Jorge Soler 0-2. Once again, life seemed nice at that point. After a waist changeup, Watson grooved a fastball that got way too much of the plate and Soler crushed it.
Boom 6-6.
Extra innings.
Up until the thirteenth inning, the Pirates made some fantastic plays to keep the game alive including two outs at the plate. Starling Marte‘s throw to gun down Javier Baez in the 12th inning was vintage Marte.
And then the 13th innings came…
With Rob Zastryzny making his fourth career appearance on the mound, things got cooking for our Buccos in the top of the 13th inning. David Freese led off with an infield single that ricocheted off of Zastryzny’s glove. Francisco Cervelli followed by smashing a single threw the hole into left field. Jordy Mercer then drew a walk.
So here we were. Bases loaded, no outs. Sean Rodriguez stepping in. As an emotional player, this was Sean-Rod’s chance to silence the Cubs, if only for one night. Zastryzny got way behind throwing three straight balls. For that moment, it seemed as though the Pirates were going to break the game open. The next pitch was taken for a strike. Okay 3-1, still in good shape. The pitch after was also a strike, this time swinging. In fact, he swung out of his shoes. You could tell he wanted to hit that pitch 600 feet. Full count. Perhaps Sean-Rod should have gone to a more conservative approach at that point but no. The 3-2 pitch was a fastball out of the zone, but Rodriguez swung just as hard and missed. One out.
All of a sudden, things didn’t look so great. Josh Harrison followed but Jeff Locke was on deck, due to the lack of bench players. Harrison hit a sac fly and Locke grounded out. It was 7-6 Pirates with Jeff Locke going out for his fourth inning, trying to secure a win. Gulp.
Bottom 13
Dexter Fowler led off and ripped a grounder into left field. MVP candidate Kris Bryant followed with an absolutely beautiful at bat. After fouling off what seemed to be about 80 pitches, Bryant inside-outed a Jeff Locke fastball into right field. Because the outfield was playing so deep, Fowler made it to third base easily. Anthony Rizzo followed and Clint Hurdle elected to draw the infield in. Rizzo laced a grounder into center field, scoring the tying run. Again it was first and third with nobody out. After an intentional walk to Ben Zobrist, Miguel Montero fell behind Locke 0-2. The .199 hitter was able to foul off a couple of pitches before slashing a single to left, ending the game.
Was it the right decision for Hurdle to bring the infield in? If the Pirates decide to concede the run, Rizzo hits into a double play. At that point in the game, it seems as though Hurdle went all in, knowing that Locke was running out of gas.
Optimistic Outlook
All in all, this game was frustrating. Just when you think you have the Cubs where you want them, they put together great at bats and come back at you. They truly are great. At the same time, the Pittsburgh Pirates can beat this team. They can hit Jake Arrieta. They too can come back after falling behind. The Pirates are now 1.5 games back of the second Wild Card. Let’s see how the Pirates respond tonight.
Photo Credit – Daniel Decker Photography
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