The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t played their best baseball recently, losing three straight series. They looked to bounce back against the pitching heavy New York Mets.
The series began with former Met, Jon Niese battling his former club and saw the return of “Pittsburgh Kid” Neil Walker.
Game One: Jon Niese (5-2, 4.36ERA) vs. Steven Matz (7-1, 2.60ERA)
Result: Pirates win 3-1
Winning Pitcher: Jon Niese (6-2, 3.93ERA)
Losing Pitcher: Steven Matz (7-2, 2.69ERA)
Save: Mark Melancon (18, 1.85ERA)
- What went right:
- Jon Niese got some revenge against his former club as he really shut them down. He went seven innings, allowed zero runs on four hits and struck out two. He got plenty of quick, ground ball outs and really continued the turnaround to his 2016 season.
- Josh Harrison was a beast in the lead-off spot. He went 3-5 with two runs scored.
- Jordy Mercer had himself a day as he reached base twice. He went 1-3 with a walk and a long home run. He finished 1-3 with a RBI and a run scored.
- Jung Ho Kang reached base three times, as he went 2-3 with a walk.
- What went wrong:
- Pirates had plenty of opportunities to really put this game away, but only went 2-14 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.
- Neftali Feliz gave up a solo home run to Curtis Granderson to make the game feel a lot more interesting than it probably should have.
- Jung Ho Kang grounded into a double play.
- Francisco Cervelli went 0-3 and stranded six men on base.
Because of a rain out, the Pirates had to play a traditional doubleheader and they started it off with a fairly clean 3-1 victory. It had to feel great for Jon Niese to pitch well against his former club and most important the team got a win.
They looked to both sweep the doubleheader and win the series in game two with Juan Nicasio on the mound.
Game Two: Juan Nicasio vs. Jacob deGrom
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