The Pirates entered St. Louis feeling like they were already staring at a crossroads in the season. Plenty of people will tell you there are no “big games” or important series this early in the year, but that sure did not feel true heading into this matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates were back at .500, sitting in the basement of an extremely competitive NL Central, and were carrying a three-game losing streak into a series against a division rival that had already swept them at PNC Park just a few weeks prior. Meanwhile, the Cardinals just kept stacking wins alongside the Cubs and Brewers while the Pirates were desperately trying to stop the bleeding. For a club trying to keep itself from spiraling early in the season, this felt like a massive series.
Unfortunately, the opener got off to a brutal start thanks to a very familiar problem. JJ Wetherholt continues to torment the Pirates every chance he gets, and the hometown kid struck again in the third inning with a two-run homer the opposite way to give St. Louis an early 2-0 lead. At this point, Wetherholt is turning into the kind of Pirates killer that would make Ian Happ proud. The Cardinals added another run in the fourth and suddenly the Bucs were staring up at a 3-0 deficit before their offense had really gotten anything going.
To their credit, the Pirates punched right back in the fifth inning with one of their better offensive frames in recent weeks. Brandon Lowe and Jared Triolo opened the inning with back-to-back singles before Nick Gonzales worked a walk to load the bases with one out. A wild pitch allowed Lowe to score and cut the deficit to two, and Bryan Reynolds followed with a huge two-run double to tie the game at 3. Oneil Cruz then dumped a bloop single into right field to score Reynolds and cap off a four-run inning that completely flipped the game on its head. Just like that, the Pirates had stormed ahead 4-3 and appeared to have all the momentum.
Then came the biggest turning point of the night. Mitch Keller had started to settle in after the rocky beginning to his outing. He recorded two outs in the sixth inning with only a runner on first base and sat at just 83 pitches when Don Kelly made the decision to go to the bullpen. Left-hander Evan Sisk got the call for the left-on-left matchup against Nolan Gorman, and while the thought process itself was understandable, it immediately became a hot topic. Keller clearly looked frustrated coming off the mound, and Pirates fans shared that same frustration considering the recent struggles of the bullpen. Asking this relief corps to get 10 outs in a one-run game felt dangerous, and those fears became reality almost instantly. Sisk, who had never allowed an extra-base hit to a left-handed hitter in his major league career, gave up a crushing go-ahead homer to Gorman that flew deep into the St. Louis night and put the Cardinals right back in front 5-4.
The bullpen only received more scrutiny when Alec Burleson added another solo homer off of Brandan Bidois in the eighth inning to stretch the lead to 6-4.
Even then, the Battlin’ Bucs refused to quit. Nick Gonzales opened the ninth inning with a single before both Konnor Griffin and Reynolds were hit by pitches to load the bases with nobody out. Another huge discussion point came moments later when Marcell Ozuna stayed in the game despite Spencer Horwitz being available off the bench against a right-handed pitcher. Ozuna grounded into a routine double play that nearly killed the rally entirely. A run scored to make it 6-5, but the Pirates were suddenly down to their final out. Cruz worked a walk to extend the inning, and Kelly finally turned to Horwitz to pinch hit. Horwitz immediately delivered, ripping the first pitch he saw into left field for a game-tying RBI single. Quietly, Horwitz has become one of the most reliable hitters in the Pirates lineup, and he came through again in a massive moment.
Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, the comeback ended up being all for nothing.
Gregory Soto tossed a scoreless inning to force extras, but the Pirates failed to cash in their automatic runner in the top of the tenth. In the bottom half, Mason Montgomery quickly allowed a single before Ivan Herrera blasted a walk-off three-run homer to send the Cardinals to a 9-6 win. Once again, the bullpen issues stole the spotlight in the worst possible way and the losing streak stretched to four games.
After suffering another gut punch in the opener, the Pirates desperately needed a response in Game 2. This time, they got one.
Carmen Mlodzinski turned in another solid outing against St. Louis and continued what has quietly been a very successful run against the Cardinals throughout his career. Mlodzinski tossed five shutout innings while working around traffic multiple times, keeping the Pirates in control all night long. He finished with a line of 5.0 innings, four hits allowed, no earned runs, one strikeout, and one walk. It was not flashy, but it was exactly what the Pirates needed.
The bullpen followed him up with one of its best collective performances in weeks, although it certainly did not come without stress.
Yohan Ramirez entered first and immediately found himself in serious trouble after loading the bases with only one out. Down 3-0 in the count against Masyn Winn, it felt like the inning was on the verge of completely unraveling. Instead, Ramirez battled all the way back to strike Winn out on a full count pitch in one of the biggest moments of the night. Cesar Prieto followed by launching a deep fly ball to right field that looked off the bat like it might completely change the game. Prieto even flipped his bat as the ball carried toward the wall. Thankfully for the Pirates, he did not get nearly enough of it. Jake Mangum tracked it down with a sliding catch on the warning track to end the inning, and everyone associated with the Pirates let out a giant sigh of relief.
From there, Evan Sisk, Justin Lawrence, and Dennis Santana each delivered scoreless innings to finish off the shutout. Considering how badly the bullpen had struggled recently, it was encouraging to see multiple arms step up in big spots, especially Santana and Lawrence.
The offense backed them up with a strong all-around performance.
Spencer Horwitz continued his hot stretch by launching a line drive homer just over the right field wall in the second inning to open the scoring. Later in the fourth, freshly called-up Jhostynxon “The Password” Garcia picked up the first RBI of his major league career with a line drive single that scored Konnor Griffin.
Griffin continued to look more and more comfortable at the major league level and was everywhere offensively in this game. The rookie finished 4-for-5 with four singles and constantly pressured the Cardinals throughout the night. He scored again in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly from Nick Gonzales, who continues to do what he always seems to do: hit.
The Pirates finally blew things open in the eighth inning. Griffin collected another hit, Endy Rodriguez followed with a single, and Mangum punched a base hit past the drawn-in infield to add another run. Gonzales kept the line moving with an RBI single before Reynolds capped the inning off with another two-run double, his second in as many games. Suddenly, the Pirates had themselves a seven-run cushion and complete control of the night.
The 7-0 victory finally snapped the losing streak and evened the series heading into the rubber match. After the emotional disaster of Game 1, the Pirates responded exactly the way they needed to.
From staring down the possibility of another brutal losing streak and another deflating series loss, the Pirates suddenly found themselves entering the rubber match with momentum and the pitching advantage firmly on their side. After the way Games 1 and 2 unfolded, this series completely shifted in Pittsburgh’s favor. Braxton Ashcraft was taking the mound against Dustin May, and it felt like the perfect opportunity for the Bucs to leave St. Louis with a massive road series victory against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Ashcraft more than held up his end of the bargain. The young right-hander has quckly become one of the biggest bright spots on this Pirates team, and he continued to look every bit like a legitimate force near the top of the rotation alongside Paul Skenes. Ashcraft attacked hitters all afternoon, worked efficiently, and piled up strikeouts on his way to seven innings of one-run baseball. The only damage the Cardinals managed against him came on a solo homer from Ivan Herrera in the third inning. Outside of that, Ashcraft was locked in from start to finish. He wrapped up another stellar outing with a line of 7.0 innings pitched, four hits allowed, one earned run, nine strikeouts, and two walks. It was exactly the type of performance the Pirates needed in a game that suddenly felt very important for the direction of the road trip.
Just like the night before, the formula was fairly simple. Strong pitching paired with timely offense.
The Pirates wasted no time jumping on the scoreboard in one of the strangest ways imaginable. Brandon Lowe continued his incredible season by tallying his 13th homer of the year, which leads all second basemen in baseball. Calling it a “normal” home run would be quite the stretch, though. Lowe absolutely crushed a ball the opposite way down the line that smacked off the very top of the wall beyond the reach of the left fielder before ricocheting back into play and rolling into left-center field. Thankfully, Lowe never slowed down. Even after the initial home run signal, he kept sprinting around the bases and scored standing up without ever breaking stride. The official ruling eventually became an inside-the-park home run, giving the Pirates a bizarre but electric 1-0 lead. At this point, Lowe is simply carrying this offense night after night.
After Herrera tied the game in the third, the Bucs answered immediately in the fourth inning. Jake Mangum came through with an RBI fielder’s choice that brought home another run and pushed Pittsburgh back ahead 2-1.
The game remained tight until the sixth inning, when the Pirates finally created some breathing room thanks to Marcell Ozuna. Spencer Horwitz worked a walk and Konnor Griffin ripped a double to extend his hitting streak, setting the stage for Ozuna to deliver one of his biggest hits in recent weeks. Ozuna lined a single into left field to score both runners and suddenly the Pirates had a much more comfortable 4-1 lead. Considering how much Ozuna has struggled at times this season and even throughout this series, the two-hit performance and clutch RBI knock felt important for both him and the offense overall.
Then came a moment that had to feel incredibly satisfying for Henry Davis. Davis entered the seventh inning hitless in his previous 17 at-bats, but he erased that slump in a hurry by jumping on the very first pitch he saw and launching a laser beam of a home run. With more and more fans clamoring for Endy Rodriguez to become the primary catcher, Davis certainly did his part to quiet those conversations down a bit, at least for one afternoon.
The Pirates kept piling on from there. Cruz doubled later in the inning, Lowe followed with another hit, and Bryan Reynolds drove in yet another run on a fielder’s choice to make it 6-1.
Wilber Dotel made his first relief appearance since getting called back up and ran into a little trouble in the eighth inning, but ultimately limited the damage to just one run while working out of a jam. Considering the recent issues with the bullpen, simply seeing arms come in and avoid disaster felt encouraging.
The 6-2 score would hold final to give the Pirates a massive series victory and cap off an impressive bounce back after the heartbreaking opener.
Final Thoughts:
What an incredible response from this team. Losing Game 1 the way they did could have completely spiraled the series in the wrong direction, especially considering the recent losing streak and all the frustration surrounding the bullpen. Instead, the Pirates punched right back and took the next two games in convincing fashion. That took some real toughness.
The Password already looks surprisingly comfortable at the major league level. He picked up several hits in the series, drove in the first run of his big-league career, and looked smooth defensively as well. By the time this article is published, Pirates fans will already know that Esmerlyn Valdez is on his way to Pittsburgh too with Ryan O’Hearn sidelined due to injury. The youth movement is officially underway, and these young bats are going to be a lot of fun to watch.
As for the catching situation, Endy Rodriguez really needs to start seeing the bulk of the playing time. Henry Davis had a nice homer in the finale, but Rodriguez simply continues to put together more competitive at-bats overall. Davis can absolutely continue catching Paul Skenes, but Endy deserves the larger share of starts right now.
Maybe, just maybe, this is where the bullpen started to get itself back on track. It certainly was not perfect, but the group looked noticeably better over the final two games of the series. For a team that desperately needs stability from its relief arms, that is at least a positive sign.
And finally, Braxton Ashcraft is just a dude. The stuff is real, the confidence is real, and he continues to look better every single outing.
Next up for the Pittsburgh Pirates is a trip north of the border to take on the Toronto Blue Jays. Friday night’s matchup is set to feature Bubba Chandler against Kevin Gausman with first pitch scheduled for 7:07 PM.
