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A Pitchers Duel at PNC Park
Last night the Pittsburgh Pirates lost 1-0 to the Chicago Cubs. The game featured some outstanding pitching by Gerrit Cole and Jose Quintana. Neither factored into the decision but both are the reason the game was scoreless until the ninth inning.
Cole went eight innings, allowed zero runs on TWO hits and struck out eight. To put it bluntly, dude was money. It wasn’t enough to earn a victory as the offense wouldn’t muster anything but it was really fun to watch. It stinks that the Pirates’ four game winning streak comes to an end following such a dominant pitching performance but that’s baseball. Pitchers win sometimes when they allow four runs in five innings and sometimes they lose when they throw eight shutout innings.
The Pirates’ offense couldn’t do anything because Jose Quintana matched Cole zero for zero for his six innings of work. It is difficult to get too worked up over this game because it was simply a case of two hot pitchers completely stifling two lineups. However, it’s still frustrating that the Pirates couldn’t scratch across a run and give their ace a well-deserved win. Pitching wins and losses are obviously not that important but if there ever was a game where a starting pitcher deserved that “W” by their name, it was Gerrit Cole last night.
Bigger than the game
The other main takeaway from last night’s game involved someone that won’t swing a bat for the rest of this year. The Pirates revealed that Josh Harrison will be their nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.
No one can deny Josh Harrison’s giving spirit as before the game, he hosted Harrisons for Hope Foundation’s Warm Winter Shopping Event. Josh Harrison and his wife took a couple lucky girls shopping for winter clothing. That isn’t a bad day at all, do a selfless act and then get honored as your team’s Roberto Clemente Award nominee. Every team has a nominee but it’s even more special when you’re a Pirate for obvious reasons.
The 2017 season has been a frustrating one for the Pirates and their fans but sometimes it’s okay to step back and realize that even a mediocre baseball team does a lot of good for the community. There are certain things that are bigger than the team’s win/loss record and this is certainly one of them.
Josh Harrison is a popular player in the field for his hitting prowess, infectious smile, and incredible hustle. However, his best quality has to be his charitable nature. It would be so easy for a player to simply cash his check and just play the game but that isn’t enough for Josh Harrison. He is helping make Pittsburgh a better city and he deserves heaps of praise for his actions.
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