All of us who cheer on the Pittsburgh Pirates know that May has not been kind to the black n’ gold. One of the complaints has been the inability to clinch a series win. Coming into Wednesday, Pittsburgh had not won a series since defeating the Washington Nationals in two out of three games at the end of April. That would change today when they closed out a series with the San Francisco Giants with a 9-4 victory.
San Francisco jumped out to an early lead when Patrick Bailey hit an RBI single to left center in the second inning. A big third inning by the Pirates would put them ahead 4-1. Andrew McCutchen got things started with an RBI double to left. He would then come around to score when Rodolfo Castro singled to left center. Castro and Connor Joe were driven in on a Ke’Bryan Hayes triple to left center.
Wilmer Flores cut in to that lead in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single to center. Pittsburgh then plated two runs in the fourth when Bryan Reynolds singled to center. The Giants crept a little closer in the fifth when Mike Yastrzemski scored on a wild pitch. Reynolds continued to swing a hot bat in the sixth when he hit into a fielder’s choice, allowing Ji Hwan Bae to score. Reynolds would then come in to score on a Joe double to left.
San Francisco collected their final run of the day in the bottom of the sixth when Casey Schmitt drove in Blake Sabol on a sac fly. The Pirates final runcame in the ninth when Jack Suwinski hit an RBI single to left. It was great to see the offense come to life, for what feels like the first time in a long time.
Mitch Keller improved to 7-1 on the year with another strong outing. He would work six innings allowing four runs on ten hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. Rob Zastryzny and Dauri Moreta combined to work the seventh inning. Robert Stephenson struck out two in the eighth, and was followed by Yohan Ramirez striking out one and allowing a hit, while pitching the ninth.
Alex Wood would only work 4.1 innings for the Giants this afternoon. Wood was tagged for six runs on eight hits, while striking out four and walking three. San Francisco used four pitchers out of the pen to cover the final 4.2 innings. In total they would allow three runs, two earned, on six hits to go with eight strikeouts.
Now that they are back over .500, let’s hope that this series win will carry over into June and that they can play winning baseball like we saw in April. Pittsburgh will head back to PNC Park to begin a nine game homestand that begins on Friday night with the first of three against the St. Louis Cardinals. With Andrew McCutchen closing in on 2,000 career hits, it would be great to see him do this in front of the home crowd.
Record vs. Giants: 2-1
Record vs. N.L. West: 9-6
Record on the Road: 16-14
Overall Record: 28-27
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
