The Pittsburgh Pirates did play a very strong series against the Detroit Tigers. The bullpen allowed way too many runs and the team could not cash in many of their various opportunities with runners in scoring position, but that’s baseball. Things tend to normalize over a long season, so the only thing to do is turn the page and turn your attention to the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers are under-going a fairly substantial rebuild, but they are still a Major League team, so the Pirates needed to take them seriously because baseball is random chaos and any team can beat another on any given day.
The Pirates turned to Jeff Locke looking to get the series started off right.
Game One: Jeff Locke (0-0, 1.50ERA) vs. Jimmy Nelson (1-1, 2.70ERA)
Result: Pirates lose 8-4
Winning Pitcher: Jimmy Nelson (2-1, 2.79ERA
Losing Pitcher: Jeff Locke (0-1, 2.53ERA
- What went right:
- Starling Marte had another multi-hit game, going 3-5 with one RBI.
- Josh Harrison walked twice and scored a run.
- John Jaso reached base twice, going 2-4 with a walk.
- Matt Joyce hit a pinch-hit three run home run to get the Pirates back into the game.
- What went wrong:
- Pirates couldn’t figure out Jimmy Nelson as he went six innings, allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits.
- Ryan Braun did what he does against the Pirates, going 3-5 with four RBI and two runs scored.
- Jonathan Villar was on-base all night, going 3-6 with one RBI and two runs scored.
The Brewers were not a good team in 2015, yet they managed to consistently give the Pirates fits and game one of this series was no different.
Baseball can be such a frustrating game and when your team isn’t cashing in opportunities, it’s even more so, but if the Pirates keep getting base-runners, they will eventually score them. Things balance out over the course of a long season.
The Pirates looked to Jon Niese to play the role of stopper in game two of the series.
Game Two: Jon Niese vs. Taylor Jungmann
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