The Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres flipped Wednesday’s score on Thursday, with the Pirates winning the afternoon contest 4-0. Here are the takeaways and throwaways from the final game of the series.
Takeaways
- Jameson Taillon turned in yet another great performance and has become the most consistant starter in the rotation. He kept the Padres from scoring in his eight innings of work and only allowed three hits and two walks to go along with four strikeouts. Taillon will have a much tougher opponent the next time out, as his next start is scheduled for Tuesday in San Francisco.
- David Freese was instrumental in the win on Thursday, as he knocked in two runs on two separate hits (including his 20th double of the season and also scored a run in the third inning. Freese has been extremely valuable as a starter and coming off the bench this season, and how holds a .283/.363/.450 heading into the weekend series in Los Angeles.
- Josh Harrison and Starling Marte both had productive afternoons in the top two spots in the lineup. With Harrison leading off and Marte following behind him, the duo went 4-7 and each scored a run. Harrison also added his 44th RBI of the season. Perhaps having these two hitters at the top of the lineup is the spark the team needs to start stringing together multiple wins.
Throwaways
- The Pirates had a great chance to tack on more runs in the fourth inning, but bad baserunning led to two outs at home. With Starling Marte at the plate, the Padres had Josh Harrison picked off of first but Eric Fryer tried to score from third while he was hung up between bases and was tagged out at home. In the same at-bat, the Padres again had Harrison hung up between bases, this time between third and home, after Marte slapped a ball to the left side of the infield. Harrison attempted one of his trademark unorthodox rundowns to get out of it but was ultimately tagged out. The team needs to leapfrog two teams to get into a playoff spot and cannot afford to make such mistakes on the base paths that erase potential runs.
W – Jameson Taillon (3-2)
L – Christian Friedrich (4-8)
S – Tony Watson (4)
Line of the Afternoon
Today we will focus on Jameson Taillon, as he dazzled the Padres over eight shutout innings.
In his 10th MLB start, Taillon only allowed three hits and two walks in his eight innings of work. He struck out four hitters and did not give up any extra base hits. Taillon has been as advertised since he arrived in Pittsburgh, and the Pirates look to have a very sold top of the rotation option for the rest of this season and beyond.
Up Next
The Pirates will head west and begin a three game series against the Dodgers on Friday at 10:10pm. Ivan Nova (8-6, 4.83) will make his second start for the Pirates after earning the win in a 5-3 victory over the Reds on August 6th. Nova will be opposed by Ross Stripling (3-3, 3.79), who blanked the Red Sox over five innings and struck out four his last time out.
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