Takeaways and Throwaways – Pittsburgh Pirates Go Fishing

The Pittsburgh Pirates Reel in the Miami Marlins in a 12-2 Laugher at Marlins Park in Miami.

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FINAL: Pittsburgh Pirates 12, Miami Marlins 2

W- Jameson Taillon (2-0)  L- Adam Conley (1-2)

Takeaways

• The Second Inning – OMG This is the the kind of hitting we need to see from the Pirates and the kind of run support Taillon deserves from the team. Already up by one off of a Jordy Mercer homer in the first, and with two outs, eight runs crossed the plate and 14 men touched base. It’s lopsided baseball, but we’ll take it.
• Oh the Holes That They Fill – Okay, we know that the Marlins aren’t projected to take over MLB. We know that this road trip is predicted to be at least a little more favorable than the tough April the Bucs had. But give credit where credit is due – missing David Freese for that nagging hammie, Adam Frazier for his injury, Jung-Ho Kang still mired in visa woes and Starling Marte for his PED suspension – Clint Hurdle was still able to field a team that got the job done.

Throwaways

• A Cold Polanco – In 5 at bats, Gregory Polanco scored 1 run, got 1 hit and was left on base 3 times. He is as streaky as they come and his streak is cold right now. The Pirates need him to start hitting to fill in the hole (which doesn’t seem as gaping in a game like tonight’s) left by Marte’s suspension.
• A chink in the Jamo armor? No pitcher is ice cold, which is to say, red hot, every start. Taillon started out well, but in the third, perhaps rocked by allowing Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria to score on a single by third baseman Martin Prado, he showed a little bit of his human side – needing north of 28 pitches to retire the runners and pushing his pitch count up to 62. He’s so steady, yet, little things really tork him off. When that happens, it takes a bit for him to get back in the zone again. For instance, coming back in the 4th and shutting down the side in seven pitches. All in all, he went 5 innings, giving up 5 hits, 1 run, walking 2 and striking out 4. His ERA stands at 2.08. He’s still awesome.

Line Of The Night

TIE – The Rookies

Osuna Matata – (Stole that one from the Toronto Blue Jays) Jose Osuna proved to be a force in Spring Training and once called up, he’s shown he’s able to step up and deliver on the biggest stage. In his fifth start, in 5 at bats, he had 2 runs, 4 hits, 1 RBI and was walked once. He’s batting .333.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving – Gift Ngoepe, in the first start of his major league career manning second, netted 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 RBI and drew 2 walks in 4 at-bats (including a triple in the sixth). His crazy batting average right now is .800. Gift’s known for his defensive prowess, but that bat ain’t half bad right now, that’s for sure.

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Up Next

The Pirates and the Miami Marlins face off for the second game of the three-game series at 7:10 p.m. at Marlins Park. The Pirates’ Ivan Nova (2-2) takes on Miami’s Dan Straily (1-1).

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