Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways & Throwaways – Locke Wins Again

The Pittsburgh Pirates took the first game of the series in Oakland with a 7-3 win over the A’s. Here are the takeaways and throwaways as the team inches closer to .500.

Takeaways

• After the first two innings it appeared that Jeff Locke was going to have a rough night. He allowed three runs, two of which were the result of Marcus Semien‘s 17th home run of the season. But he settled down after that and put up three consecutive zeroes to give the Pirates a chance to get back into the game. Management made the right decision to get Locke out of the game after the fifth since his pitch count was already closing in on 100. But for Locke, this is a start that falls in the middle of what we have seen from him. He can be brilliant one night and befuddling the next time out, and Friday’s was definitely a step in the right direction.
• It was an excellent night for the bullpen as well. A.J. Schugel, Arquimedes Caminero and Mark Melancon combined for four scoreless innings, shutting down any chance of a comeback by the A’s. Caminero in particular was impressive, striking out four in his two innings of work.
• The six through eight hitters made up the majority of the offense in the win. They went six for 12 and drove in five of the team’s runs, taking the lead while the top of the lineup was cold on what appeared to be a chilly night in Oakland.

Throwaways

• On the other hand, the top five hitters in the lineup did not have a good night. The core of Friday’s lineup was just two for 19 on the night. If there is one takeaway of this throwaway (ha!), it is that they only made four of the 17 outs via a strikeout. So they were at least putting the ball in play, perhaps tomorrow a similar hit will land in the field rather than someone’s glove.

W – Jeff Locke (8-5)

L – Sonny Gray (3-7)

Line of the Night

Tonight’s Line of the Night goes to Jeff Locke, even though Friday’s outing didn’t match what he did the previous time out.

Locke was hit hard early on when he gave up three runs in two innings and threw a high number of pitches. But after that he did not allow another run, and also got three swinging strikeouts in the next three innings. He did need 95 pitches to get through the fifth, so next time out he’ll look to be more efficient. But Friday’s start was certainly better than some of the nights he has had in the last month.

Up Next

The series continues on Saturday at 10:05pm when Chad Kuhl (1-0, 5.40) faces Rich Hill (8-3, 2.25). Kuhl will be making his second start of his career after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in his MLB debut. He’ll look to go deeper into his second outing, as he only lasted into the fifth in his first start. Hill, who will come off the disabled list for Saturday’s game, has had an incredible season so far. He has earned quality starts in eight of his 11 outings and has also only given up two home runs this season.