The series ended on a sour note with a very frustrating loss, but that’s baseball. It can be a maddening game in the same way it can be a glorious one. Despite ending the series on a bad note, it’s important to remember the Pirates DID win this series. A sweep would have been nice, but consistently winning series is the most important thing and for the most part, the Pirates played well and took care of business against a struggling Reds team.
The biggest takeaway from this series to me was John Jaso finding a bit of a power swing. PNC Park is very friendly to left handed hitters and while Jaso will never turn into a 30 home rum guy, he could see a bit of an upswing in his home run totals playing half his games at PNC Park. Definitely something to keep an eye on.
The elephant in the room during this entire series was the upcoming matchup with the Chicago Cubs so it’s good the Pirates were able to stay focused on take care of business against the Reds. Part of being a good team is having the same intensity whether you’re playing your biggest rival for first place or a last place team. The Pirates did just that.
The Cubs come to town with the best record in the National League at the moment, at 17-6, but the first are only three games behind in the early going. This should be a good test to see how the Pirates matchup with the Cubs this season. However, it’s also important to remember that this is one series in early May. It’s an important one, but not THE important one.
Game one is tonight as Gerrit Cole takes on Jason Hammel. First pitch is at 7:05pm.
Series Result: Pirates win 2-1
2016 win/loss record: 15-10
2016 series record: 5-3
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