The Pittsburgh Pirates played a pretty solid series against the New York Mets and as a result they won two out of three. Would the Pirates be able to parlay that into a good series against the St. Louis Cardinals?
Game One: Gerrit Cole (5-4, 2.85ERA) vs. Michael Wacha (2-6, 5.16ERA)
Result: Pirates lose 9-3 (12 innings)
Winning Pitcher: Jonathan Broxton (1-0, 4.38ERA)
Losing Pitcher: Juan Nicasio (5-5, 5.34ERA)
- What went right:
- Starling Marte went 2-5 with a run scored, a stolen base and made some very good defensive plays in the outfield.
- A.J. Schugel did a fantastic job in relief. He pitched four shutout innings and struck out four.
- Jordy Mercer had a good game. He went 1-4 with a walk, a RBI and a run scored.
- Tony Watson had a scoreless inning and returned to the form we’e all used to.
- What went wrong:
- Gerrit Cole and Francisco Cervelli both had to leave the game with injuries. The severity of the injuries aren’t yet known.
- Matt Carpenter had his usual great game against the Pirates. He went 2-4 with a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored and two walks.
- Adam Wainwright got the game-winning hit in the 12th inning when he was used as a pinch hitter. It was the most recent example of Devil Magic.
- Juan Nicasio was absolutely terrible in relief. He recorded the first two outs and then gave up six runs on four hits.
For most of this game the Pirates looked good. A.J. Schugel did an incredible job in relief and the Pirates had a 2-0 lead in the eighth inning. It went south from there. They gave up the lead, battled back before getting shelled in extra innings. With the injuries to Cole and Cervelli this game was particularly frustrating.
The Pirates looked to bounce back with Francisco Liriano on the mound.
Game Two: Francisco Liriano vs. Carlos Martinez
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