Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways & Throwaways- Cole & The Gang

The Pittsburgh Pirates swept the Arizona Diamondbacks behind a spirited outing behind Gerrit Cole. The Pirates finish its 10-game homestand with an 8-2 record.

Here now are the Takeaways and Throwaways from today’s win.

Takeaways-

• Pirates broadcaster Bob Walk is adamant about many things while on the air. Whether it be the shadows on the field, never eating blue cotton candy or the one that was most relevant in today’s game, banning the DH. Gerrit Cole helped Walk’s case with his monster 409 foot three-run home run in the bottom of the second inning. This was Cole’s second home run and his first in PNC Park. Cole has a career .165 average, however, Cole has been coming up clutch at the plate since his first start of his career when he singled home two runs in his first at bat off of former San Francisco Giant Tim Lincecum. Cole followed up the home run with a two-out double. Bob Walk’s grin in the Root Sports booth could be seen from the top of Mount Washington.
• Staying with the Cole story line, his best attribute as a baseball player is his ability to pitch. Cole found himself in trouble with the bases loaded and less than two outs a couple of times during the ball game. However, Cole was able to evade damage completely and have the Diamondbacks strand eight runners through the first three innings. The only blemish in Cole’s outing was in the first inning when he gave up back-to-back doubles to lead off the game, surrendering one run.

Throwaways-

• One negative about Cole’s game was the amount of pitches he was throwing so early in the game. Cole pitched 100+ pitches through five innings, averaging over 20 pitches per inning. Cole has averaged close to six innings per start so far this season. In his last three starts Cole has gone at least six innings with his best start coming on May 15 against the Cubs when he went eight innings and gave up three hits. The Pirates would love to see all of its starters go deeper into the game with the bullpen, aside from Melancon, still looking to prove itself in the 2016 season.
• Once again, the Pirates middle relievers were shaky in today’s game. A.J. Schugel had the bases loaded in the sixth before he gave up a two-RBI single to Paul Goldscmidt. The relief pitcher with the lowest ERA in the Pirates bullpen with more than 10 appearances is Neftali Feliz with a 3.75 ERA. Arquimedes Caminero comes in at the highest with a 5.19 ERA. The Pirates’ bullpen come in at No. 23 in the league with an overall 4.14 ERA.

W- A.J. Schugel ( 1-1)

L- Patrick Corbin (2-4)

Line of the Night- Goldschmidt, arguably the Diamondbacks most dangerous hitter, was 1-for-10 in the series before he laced his game tying two-RBI single into center field in the sixth inning on Thursday. He finished the series 2-for-11 and went 6-for-21 in the season matchup with the Pirates.

Up Next- After today’s game, the Pirates will hop on a flight to the Dallas area to take on the Texas Rangers in a three-game interleague series. Pittsburgh last played Texas in 2013 when the team clinched the organization’s first winning season in 20 years. The Pirates swept that series outscoring the Rangers 13-9. There will be a little extra going into this series with former Pirates’ bench coach Jeff Banister in the opposing dugout as the Rangers’ manager. Jonathon Niese, Juan Nicasio, and Francisco Liriano will take the hill for the Pirates in the series at Globe Life Park. They will be opposed by Cole Hamels, Yu Darvish and Martin Perez.