Before their series against the Atlanta Braves last weekend, the Pirates were on a bit of a hot streak. They were firmly entrenched in an NL Wild Card spot and were about to match up against two other NL contenders. Those series did not go the Pirates' way, but with a series against the Marlins on deck, it looked like they had an opportunity to turn things around. Unfortunately, that did not happen, as the Pirates were only able to take one game from Miami at home. Let's figure out where it went wrong this weekend (hint: it's about the same thing that has gone wrong in every series loss).
Game One got off to a fine enough start. Braxton Ashcraft took the mound looking to bounce back from a rough outing, and he looked sharp, as the game remained scoreless going into the bottom of the third. Jared Triolo drove in Endy Rodriguez with a single off former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, and the Pirates held that one-run lead into the fifth. The Marlins were able to push two runs across in the top of the fifth, but Endy Rodriguez answered with a solo homer to tie it in the bottom half of the inning. Wilber Dotel came in to relieve Ashcraft in the sixth and looked good in his first inning of work. Sadly, things took a wrong turn very quickly, as Dotel surrendered four runs and the lead, allowing seven baserunners in less than two innings. Antwone Kelly made his major league debut in relief of Dotel, and he struggled mightily, giving up two runs of his own to push the deficit to 8-2. Brandon Lowe made the final score a little more respectable with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth, his 17th homer of the year, but the score would hold as the Marlins took Game One by a score of 8-3.
Game Two saw Bubba Chandler on the mound, and just like his last outing, he looked much improved. Chandler had his best stuff in this one, walking just one batter and striking out six over 5.2 innings. He allowed two runs but gave the Pirates a great chance to win, while Ryan O'Hearn and Bryan Reynolds picked up RBI hits earlier in the game. This 2-2 deadlock held until the eighth inning, when Spencer Horwitz was plunked with the bases loaded to give the Bucs a late lead. The Pirates' bullpen was in rare form in this contest, as Mason Montgomery, Yohan Ramirez, and Gregory Soto all posted scoreless outings to secure a 3-2 win. Tyler Callihan continued his hot start to his Pirates career with two more hits, while Jake Mangum contributed two hits and a stolen base of his own.
Game Three was similar to Game One. Paul Skenes turned in another strong start, going six innings while striking out 10. His only blemishes were two solo homers in the second inning, but outside of that, the Marlins could not string together much of anything against him. Unfortunately, the Bucs could not do much against Max Meyer, who set an MLB record by extending his streak of non-losing outings to begin a season to 15. The Pirates managed just one run against Meyer on a Jake Mangum RBI single, but the game was still within reach heading into the eighth inning with the score sitting at 2-1. Unfortunately, the bullpen imploded once again. Brandan Bidois allowed two runs, and suddenly the Pirates found themselves trailing 4-1. Isaac Mattson extinguished the rally in his return from a minor league stint, and Bryan Reynolds launched a solo homer to center field in the ninth, but it was too little, too late as the Bucs dropped the series finale.
This was not a particularly noteworthy series. The biggest takeaway is clearly the bullpen, which allowed two extremely close games to get out of hand in the late innings. Fans have been quick to blame manager Don Kelly, but it is hard to pin this on him. Nearly every arm that has come out of the Pirates' bullpen has struggled, no matter how much the club shuffles personnel around. Isaac Mattson returned and looked solid, but Wilber Dotel hit the IL, while Antwone Kelly and Brandan Bidois both struggled badly. Changes have to be made, or this team will continue to slide.
Series MVP: Bryan Reynolds, who tallied two doubles, a homer, and a home run robbery. Reynolds historically enjoys fantastic months of June, and it looks like this year will be no different.
The Bucs will travel to Sacramento for a three-game set against the Athletics beginning tomorrow, where Jared Jones will get the ball against JT Ginn.
Let's Go Bucs!
