Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways & Throwaways – Lester Latest Victim

The Pittsburgh Pirates continued to stay hot as they topped the Chicago Cubs 12-6 tonight. The Pirates put a five-spot on John Lester, and even though they were outhit 13-9, they managed to make their hits count and strand the Cub batters. Chad Kuhl was lifted early, yet the majority of the Pirate bullpen found success on the night. Jared Hughes ended up closing out the game with three scoreless innings, which ended up netting him a save.

Takeaways

• Josh Bell, welcome to the show. The night as a whole was marked by a bunch of different moments, but none more punctual than Josh Bell’s fifth inning grand slam that landed in the river over the right field wall. Depending on how Bell does tomorrow, Neal Huntington may have a difficult decision on whether to send Bell back to the minors after the All-Star break. At the very least, Bell could be a valuable bat off the bench, but would the team want to start Bell’s service clock while using him almost solely off the bench?

Take a lap.
Take a bow.
Ring the Bell!https://t.co/rJlXOGc90G

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 10, 2016

• Andrew McCutchen continues to stay hot as he went 2-5 on the night with a solo home run and a big two-out, two-run single in the fourth inning. He’s played well the past few games and maybe his hot play of late, coupled with a much-needed rest over the All-Star break (which he hasn’t had since 2010), will finally continue and his turnaround will begin.
• Arquimedes Caminero continues to thrive since coming off the DL. He’s given up just two runs in 19.1 innings of work since that point. Tonight, he registered three strikeouts in 1.2 innings of work. A return to the Caminero we saw last year, or even one better than that, will go a long way towards shoring up the middle relief of the bullpen in the second half.

Throwaways

• Lost in the offensive showcase for the Pirates tonight was some poor pitching. Chad Kuhl had a very short start, lasting just 2.1 innings. Clint Hurdle elected to remove Kuhl from the game early, and Juan Nicasio gave up an earned run and allowed an inherited runner to score as well. It was probably Nicasio’s worst showing since moving to the bullpen. A.J. Schugel also looked uncharacteristically off as he gave up a run. I still have confidence in at least Nicasio moving forward.
• Josh Harrison was removed from the game in the bottom of the third inning with left foot discomfort after getting hit in the foot with a pitch the previous inning. I could see Harrison sitting out tomorrow’s game before the break, and hopefully it’s nothing more than a bruise.
• Anthony Rizzo came up just inches short of a cycle in the 8th inning when his double went off the top of the left field wall. It wouldn’t have had much of an impact on the outcome of the game, and Rizzo still went 4-5 on the night as he prepares for the All-Star game.

Line of the Night

Arquimedes Caminero – 1.2 IP / 0 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 3 SO / 0 HR

Not only does Caminero continue striking out batters and pitching scoreless innings, he’s also routinely hitting triple digits.

Last four Caminero fastballs: 100 mph, 101, 102, 102

— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) July 10, 2016

Next Up

The Pirates try to go for the sweep and to go into the All-Star break on a very high note tomorrow afternoon against the Cubs. Jon Niese may be making his final start for the Pirates as the team has been shopping him of late. He’ll take on the veteran John Lackey as first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 PM.

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