Coming into this series 21-17, having made up some ground in a ridiculous NL Central, the Bucs looked to take advantage of a struggling Giants team that had the worst record in the NL. While the series didn’t exactly go the Pirates’ way, there were still some key positives in every game.
Game one featured a bit of an odd lineup against lefthander Robbie Ray. Jared Triolo, back from his rehab assignment, led off. The bottom of the lineup saw Nick Yorke and Billy Cook both start, meaning that Brandon Lowe, Spencer Horwitz, and Ryan O’Hearn all had days off. Unfortunately, this lineup produced like it was missing those guys. The Buccos were only able to string together two runs – one in the second and one in the ninth. Marcell Ozuna was the only Pirate with a multi-hit day which included a home run, and Nick Gonzales walked three times. Besides that, there was nothing going, and Carmen Mlodzinski’s 6 strong innings of two-run ball went down as a loss. Justin Lawrence got completely blown up, as he was not able to record an out before surrendering three runs. Evan Sisk and Cam Sanders looked much better after him, but a stalled rally in the ninth after a Horwitz RBI single left the Pirates with a 2-5 loss.
Game two was a completely different story. Through four it looked like it may be a pitcher’s duel, as Braxton Ashcraft and Landon Roupp were both scoreless. However, the Bucs were able to strike first in the fifth, as Brandon Lowe drove in Joey Bart on a sac fly, and Bryan Reynolds drove in Oneil Cruz on a single. The Giants made it 2-1 in the bottom of the inning when top prospect Bryce Eldridge crushed his first career home run into the McCovey Cove, but that would turn out being the last time the game was close. Konnor Griffin and Joey Bart provided two more RBI singles the next inning, and Ashcraft was able to strike out Rafael Devers in a key spot in the sixth to preserve the 4-1 lead. Ashcraft was masterful, allowing just one run over seven innings while striking out six and walking none. The most impressive part? He could’ve kept going – he was only at 80 pitches, but the Bucs had a big enough lead to let him rest. This cushion came in the top of the 7th, an inning that Giants fans will remember all year for all the wrong reasons. Multiple Giants errors were accompanied by a ball lost in the stadium lights and a poor effort on a line drive to put the Bucs up 10-1, and they then tallied three more runs the next inning off a position player pitching to run it up to 13-1. Cam Sanders struggled in the ninth, but it was a fruitless effort by the Giants, as they could only make it a 13-3 ballgame.
Game three was a game it feels like the Pirates have played an infinite amount of times this year already – an extra-inning barnburner. Bubba Channder was matched up against Tyler Mahle, and its safe to say that Bubba looked much better. Walking only one batter, Chandler was able to go five innings of two run ball, a start which the Pirates would take every time. Unfortunately, Isaac Mattson continued his string of bad outing immediately after chandler exited, as he gave up two runs to leave the game tied at four in the bottom of the sixth. Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz provided the offensive fireworks, as both of them smashed home runs. Meanwhile, Spencer Horwitz had two RBI doubles, and the lineup was able to walk nine times. However, it ended up not being enough. Yohan Ramirez blew a two-run lead in the 10th, but was able to work around heavy traffic to keep the game tied in both that inning and the next. The offense disappeared, however, and Justin Lawrence blew another game to hand the Pirates a 6-7 loss.
This series feels better than the results were, as the Pirates were able to absolutely destroy the Giants on Saturday. However, there are cracks starting to appear in the team – the bullpen has quietly struggled greatly after a scalding start to the season, and it looks like changes might have to be made soon. Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz both had good series, the former of which has looked absolutely elite since turning 20 years old. Meanwhile, Cruz has 10 home runs and 15 steals and is on an incredible full-season pace.
And yet, Series MVP still has to go to Braxton Ashcraft, who’s elite outing on Saturday allowed the Bucs to win handedly.
The Pirates will have a day off and then return to PNC Park to host the Rockies, who have been surprisingly not as dreadful as they came into the season looking, sporting a 16-25 record. Paul Skenes will get the ball for game one against the struggling Michael Lorenzen as the Buccos look to get back on track. Lets Go Bucs!
