The Pirates, in the midst of a stretch where they had fallen on hard times, hit the road to Sacramento looking to rebound against the Athletics. With the team back at .500, they were in danger of falling under for the first time since March. Not only that, the Bucs were sliding in both the division race and the NL Wild Card race. A series win before heading to Colorado was much, much needed in order for this ball club to get back on its feet.
The way the series started, it looked like things were only going to get worse during this disaster stretch. Game 1 was a beatdown of great proportions.
Nothing went the Pirates' way, a trend that had been going on for far too long lately. Jared Jones was flirting with danger all night and ended up getting tagged for five earned runs on eight hits in just four innings of work.
Trailing 5-1, Carmen Mlodzinski entered the game in piggyback duty. This decision led to lots of debate, as the bullpen has already been struggling so greatly. Adding Mlodzinski to the mix was supposed to provide some solid, high-leverage late inning relief throughout the week. However, so far, Mlodzinski has only been used in piggyback relief of Jones, essentially hurting the bullpen even more by giving them one less arm. It is essentially six starters and only seven bullpen arms in an already taxed and struggling bullpen.
To make matters worse, Mlodzinski gave up an additional six runs on six hits in his appearance. Somehow, in an almost unbelievable stat, five of those runs were unearned thanks to an error by Brandon Lowe with two outs in the seventh inning. That is just the way things had been going for the Pirates.
The offense was mostly lifeless in this one. They scored their two runs on a Jake Mangum RBI single in the fourth inning and an Endy Rodriguez homer in the eighth. Rodriguez was the lone bright spot, tallying three hits and further solidifying his spot as the primary catcher.
Pittsburgh dropped the opener by a score of 11-2 and fell below .500 for the first time since March.
A common theme for this ball club this year has been their ability to bounce back after being kicked down to the ground. However, this had probably been the hardest they had been kicked all season. At 36-37, with no Oneil Cruz or Konnor Griffin, a struggling bullpen and starting rotation, and eight losses in their last ten games, it could not really get much worse. Fortunately, the Bucs got back off the mat.
A disastrous start in Game 2 made it feel like the losing skid would just keep on keeping on. Mitch Keller looked shaky yet again and loaded the bases in the first inning. He was nearly able to work his way out of things, as he got a ground ball with two outs that could have avoided any damage. However, Spencer Horwitz airmailed a throw to first after making a heck of a diving stop to keep the ball in the infield. What could have been a momentum-shifting scoreless frame instead became a momentum-sucking three-run error. To make matters worse, Lawrence Butler doubled in another run and it was 4-0 Athletics before the Pirates even had a chance to settle in.
This is where the Pirates finally punched back. They picked up a run in the fourth on a Nick Gonzales ground out that scored Bryan Reynolds. They added two more in the sixth courtesy of a Reynolds solo homer and an Endy Rodriguez RBI single. Suddenly, the deficit was trimmed to just 4-3.
Mitch Keller deserves some praise here. He has had a really tough stretch of starts lately, and this one looked like it was heading down that same path after the four early runs. However, he bounced back strong and cruised through the next 4.1 innings with ease, keeping the Pirates in the game. He gave up a solo homer to Zack Gelof in the sixth to end his day and make it 5-3, but Keller's response after the ugly first inning was a huge factor in the comeback effort.
An even bigger contributor to the rally, however, was Bryan Reynolds. Already coming into this game scorching hot, he somehow one-upped himself. Sitting at 3-for-3 on the night with a homer already under his belt, B-Rey stepped to the plate with a man on and two outs in the seventh. He crushed a two-run homer the opposite way that cleared the wall to tie the game at five. Reynolds has been seeing the ball like a beach ball lately, and he has absolutely put this team on his back, especially with the top of the lineup going through some struggles.
One of those guys at the top battling a slump was Brandon Lowe. He has been the Pirates' most reliable bat and power source all season, but even he had cooled off during the skid. Lowe put an end to that in the ninth inning. He ripped a line drive solo homer off the Athletics closer to give the Pirates a 6-5 lead after trailing all night. Lowe just continues to be the man for this club, and now he has B-Rey right there with him.
Gregory Soto danced his way into and out of some trouble in the ninth to lock down the comeback and give the Pirates a thrilling 6-5 win. While things have not been fun as of late, this game certainly was, and it was beyond much-needed for the Pirates. More importantly, it set them up with a chance to take the series on the road.
The Pirates did not just take the series in Game 3, they absolutely pummeled the Athletics into submission.
The offense was alive and ready to go early. Spencer Horwitz led off the game with a double, Brandon Lowe walked, and the red-hot Reynolds ripped a ground-rule double to get the Bucs on the board. Ryan O'Hearn followed that up with a double of his own to score both runners and make it 3-0 before many fans had even settled in.
Braxton Ashcraft got the ball for the Pirates in the rubber match, and he was more than efficient. He lived in the strike zone all night and made quick work of the Athletics lineup over six strong innings. Ashcraft finished with six innings of four-hit, one-run baseball while striking out seven. He continues to impress as one of the top arms in this rotation.
The offense made sure Ashcraft had plenty of support. They picked up two more runs in the second inning on RBI singles from the two leaders, Lowe and Reynolds, to make it 5-0. Then in the fourth, O'Hearn gave the Pirates a touchdown lead with a two-run opposite field blast.
As if leading 7-2 in the seventh inning was not enough, the offense decided to deliver one final major blow. Marcell Ozuna, making his first start in about a week, blasted a 448-foot bomb to kick things off. Horwitz later walked in a run and Lowe followed with a deep sacrifice fly. To cap off the inning, O'Hearn drove in his fifth and sixth runs of the night with a two-run single to center field to make it 12-2 Pirates.
A few solo homers in garbage time made the final score 12-4, but the Pirates bullpen looked strong to close things out. This game had a really good feeling attached to it, and the Bucs completed the rally after dropping Game 1 to take the series in Sacramento.
Final Thoughts:
This team's ability to respond after a tough stretch may be what keeps them in the playoff race all season long. There have been multiple times this year where it felt like the wheels were falling off, but the Pirates have battled to keep themselves afloat. Now is the time to build on that momentum. A sweep in Colorado would be ideal, but taking two out of three would certainly do the trick.
Bryan freakin' Reynolds. He is on an absolute tear right now, and it has been so much fun to watch. If he keeps this up, another All-Star appearance could very well be in the cards.
The bullpen is also starting to show signs of life. As messy as things have been lately, the group is beginning to take shape. Gregory Soto obviously has the ninth inning locked down, but guys like Mason Montgomery and Dennis Santana may be ready to claim those setup roles ahead of him. Yohan Ramirez and Isaac Mattson have looked solid lately as well. Factoring in Carmen Mlodzinski, who will hopefully detach from the piggyback role and settle into late-inning work, things may finally be trending in the right direction for the Pirates bullpen.
Next up for the Bucs is a trip to Colorado to take on the Rockies. Game 1 is set for Friday night and it will feature Bubba Chandler against Kyle Freeland. First pitch is scheduled for 8:40 PM.
