In a night for run records for the Pittsburgh Pirates, they pulled out a surprising 15 – 2 win (yes, you read that right) over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Apparently Andrew McCutchen told AJ Burnett, visiting the team tonight at Citizen Bank Field, that he was going to hit two home runs in tonight’s game – and darned if he didn’t do it! The rest of the line-up piled on as well, enabling the Pirates to exit the City of Brotherly Love with a winning taste in their mouths and a 2-2 wash in the series.
Takeaways
- Taking Advantage of Mistakes – each one of the Pirates’ first three home runs came off of pitches that elevated and over the plate by Eickhoff, as was pointed out by Phillies announcers. The Bucs were paying attention and waiting for that pitch. That patience continued to pay off as they tore through the Phillies bullpen, sparing no pitcher.
- Chad Kuhl, in just his 10th major league game, was perfect for the Pirates through the first four innings, throwing less than 45 pitches. He worked quickly throughout the game and maintained an even keel, even when he gave up a few runs in the fifth. All told, in 6 innings, Kuhl gave up 4 hits, 2 runs and struck out 5. With about 150 close friends and family cheering in the stands.
- Batman Returns – (retired) Pitcher AJ Burnett visited the Bucs before the game tonight – hanging out on the field during BP and reconnecting with teammates and coaches alike. And then they go and have a night…hmmmm.
Throwaways
- Inconsistency – If this team played this way every night, there wouldn’t be so many “former Pirates fans”who jumped ship in August right now.
- Prior to Gregory Polanco’s double in the seventh, the only time Pirates cleats touched bases was to hit them all on the way home. It’s a hell of a thing to complain about, but a few hits that don’t sail over the back wall of the park are always a good thing to have. Especially when this team isn’t known for its massive home run counts. The Pirates still need to work on just making contact and moving runners around. They got the small ball involved more late in the game, when it didn’t matter as much.
- Frazier getting picked off at second in the eighth. Will the base-running blunders ever end? Ugh.
W – Chad Kuhl (4-3)
L – Jerad Eickoff (10-14)
Line of the Night
Andrew McCutchen had himself a very Cutch-like night. In five at-bats, Cutch scored 3 runs, had 3 hits and 3 RBIs. Too bad this isn’t July.
Hop on over to our twitter feed to cast your vote for tonight’s Player Of The Game!
The #Pirates blast the #Phillies tonight 15-2 with a big 9th inning. Who was your Player of the Game?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) September 16, 2016
Next Up
The Pittsburgh Pirates head to Great American Ballpark for a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds. Veteran Ryan Vogelsong (3-5) faces the Reds’ righty Robert Stephenson (2-1) in game one on Friday, which starts at 7:10 p.m.
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