The first west coast road trip of the season is always tough on the fans as you have to stay up really late to watch your favorite team in action, but that’s the price you pay for watching and cheering on a ball club for 162 games.
The Pittsburgh Pirates played a fairly good series against the Milwaukee Brewers as they took two out of the three games, but baseball does not give you a chance to celebrate for too long as the team must turn their attention to the San Diego Padres.
The Padres are in a weird place at the moment. They have talent, but aren’t expected to contend in the much improved National League West. They aren’t a bad team by any means, but they aren’t a great one either. Still, like all MLB teams, they have plenty of capable players on their roster and can beat anyone at any time.
Game One: Francisco Liriano (1-0, 2.45ERA) vs. Colin Rea (0-1, 5.56ERA)
Result: Pirates lose 5-4
Winning Pitcher: Collin Rea (1-1, 5.51ERA)
Losing Pitcher: Francisco Liriano (1-1, 4.11ERA)
Save: Fernando Rodney (2, 0.00ERA)
- What went right:
- John Jaso continued his torrid start to the season by once again reaching base twice. He went 1-4 with a walk and one RBI.
- Josh Harrison had a multi-hit performance, going 2-4 with a run scored.
- Andrew McCutchen had a fairly solid game, going 1-4 with a walk and two runs scored.
- Ryan Vogelsong had two solid innings of relief, allowing just one hit.
- What went wrong:
- Francisco Liriano did not have his good stuff. He was all over the place and couldn’t consistently find the strike zone. He finish the game, going 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and walking five.
- Jon Jay of course reached base against the Pirates, going 3-4 with a walk.
- Wil Myers hit a monster two-run home run as part of a three-run Padres fifth inning.
- Gregory Polanco and Andrew McCutchen both grounded into inning ending double plays that prevented the Pirates from putting up crooked numbers.
The San Diego series did not get off to a good start as the Pirates had several opportunities to really jump ahead and put the game away, but unfortunately they weren’t able and the Padres took advantage of their chances and won the game.
The team looked to bounce back with Jeff Locke on the mound…spoilers, it didn’t go well.
Game Two: Jeff Locke vs. Drew Pomeranz
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