The Pittsburgh Pirates shut out the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 on Thursday night to take the interleague series.
Welcome to Takeaways & Throwaways. Shortly after every Pittsburgh Pirates game, come to Pirates Breakdown to see our flash recap format. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about the game, without making you read the same boring recap you can see anywhere else.
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FINAL: Pittsburgh Pirates 4, Tampa Bay Rays 0
W – Jameson Taillon (4-2, 2.97) L – Chris Archer (6-5, 3.92)
Takeaways
- Jameson Taillon threw a fantastic game on Thursday, going six and a third innings and did not surrender a run. He allowed seven hits and only walked two to go along with six strikeouts. After his last start, Taillon has now strung together two quality starts.
- The Pirates made some very smart defensive plays in Friday’s contest. In the second Jesus Sucre grounded to third and Josh Harrison gets the force out at third and then smartly went to second to get the next runner. In the fourth after Tim Beckham stole second, Jordy Mercer went to third to get him trying to advance on a ground ball.
- Andrew McCutchen had another great game since returning to the third spot in the lineup. He went three for three with a double and two singles while collecting his 47th RBI. He also walked as well, so he was on base every time he went to the plate. If McCutchen’s bat can stay this hot, he could be the spark to really get this team going.
Throwaways
- Josh Bell grounded into two inning ending double plays during the contest but did manage to reach base with a single. He is in no danger of losing his job, but it is unfortunate that those two double plays were when the team had an opportunity to score runs. Fortunately the runs they had were enough since Tampa Bay was unable to score at all.
- Even though Elias Diaz is currently with the team, Chris Stewart started and was hitless in four at-bats on the evening. His slash line of .179/.246/.268 and at this point it does not make sense that Diaz receives most of the at-bats while Francisco Cervelli prepares to comeback from his injury.
Line of the Night
There were a few candidates for Line of the Night, but tonight it goes to Andrew McCutchen. He was perfect at the plate with two singles and his 14th double of the season. He also drew a walk, so the success at the plate on Friday moved his slash line to .278/.361/.491. This last month or so has been impressive for McCutchen and whether the team decides to move him or keep him, he has been an absolute joy to watch lately.
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The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Tampa Bat Rays 4-0 to take the midweek series. Who was the Player of the Game
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) June 30, 2017
Up Next
The San Francisco Giants come to town to begin a three game series on Friday and Johnny Cueto (5-7, 4.20) and Gerrit Cole (6-6, 4.11) will kick off the weekend action. In Cueto’s last two starts, he has gone seven innings in each game and given up a total of three runs but did not earn a win in either. Cole has been outstanding lately; he has pitched 20 innings over his last three starts and given up just one run in each of those contests. With the Giants struggling mightily this season, Cole has a very good chance to keep the success going.
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