In maybe their first true test of team mettle, the Pirates faced the first-place Atlanta Braves over the weekend, and the series did not go their way. There were definite positives from the set, as the Pirates found themselves in the lead or tied over the course of every game, but they still got swept. Let’s go game-by-game to figure out what went wrong.
Game one started off good. Mitch Keller looked sharp over his first two innings, and the Pirates got out to a 3-1 lead in the top of the third thanks to Nick Gonzales and Marcell Ozuna RBI singles off of former Pirate Martin Perez. Unfortunately, that was the last time the Pirates led. The Braves struck for two more runs in the bottom of the third on a Mauricio Dubon home run, then added three more in the fifth to chase Keller from the game and raise his season ERA to 4.81. It was a rare short outing for Keller, as he gave up 6 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. The bats went completely dormant the rest of the game, as the Bucs were only able to muster one more hit – another Marcell Ozuna single. While they never really had a great chance to strike again, the Buccos’ bullpen did their best effort to keep the game within reach, as Evan Sisk, Dennis Santana, and Brandan Bidois all looked solid in shutout efforts.
Game two was a similar story. It was another uncharacteristic outing by a Pirates starter, as Braxton Ashcraft had his second stumble of the season. Like Keller, Ashcraft gave up six earned runs and nine hits, which were highlighted by a Dominic Smith two-run homer to push the score to 6-3 in the fifth inning. The Pirates got their three runs off of Spencer Strider with some solid hits, including a Tyler Callihan double that scored Nick Gonzales but resulted in Oneil Cruz being thrown out at home on a Ronald Acuna Jr. relay. The Bucs had a great chance to close the gap in the 8th inning after Yohan Ramirez and Mason Montgomery shut down the Braves completely, but Oneil Cruz struck out with two runners on, and the game was effectively over. This made what happened in the ninth inning even scarier, as Brandon Lowe fouled a ball off his knee and had to get helped off the field. After the game came scary quotes from the front office, as it looked like Lowe might be out for a few weeks.
Regardless, the Pirates pushed onto game three. They struck immediately, and Spencer Horwitz led off the game with an absolute nuke off of Bryce Elder, and bat flipped to set the tone. In the bottom of the first, opener Mason Montgomery worked out of the trouble he made for himself, setting down Austin Riley on a strikeout with the bases loaded to give Bubba Chandler a lead to work with as he entered the game in the second. It was clear that this was a different version of Bubba Chandler than he have seen so far this year – filling the zone with strikes and looking absolutely nasty. Over his first five innings he gave up just one hit, and was rolling with a 2-0 lead after Nick Gonzales got a run home while grounding into a double play. Unfortunately, Bubba could not keep up the great outing, as the seventh inning snuck up on him. After striking out Austin Riley, Bubba found himself with three runners on base due to two walks and an error, and with Michael Harris coming up to the plate, was relieved by lefty Evan Sisk, who has been sensational for the Bucs. Sisk immediately gave up a bases clearing double, and the Bucs were down 2-3 going into the late innings. After some pinch hits and great at bats, the Pirates had the bases loaded in the 8th inning with Ryan O’Hearn at the plate. After working a great at-bat, O’Hearn wasn’t able to square up the ball, and the Braves got out of the bases loaded jam with a groundout. Then, in the ninth, who else but Brandon Lowe stepped up to the plate to hit for the Pirates. With the announcers channeling the legendary Kirk Gibson moment, Lowe smoked a ball into the right field corner and hustled to second base on one knee, and it looked like the Pirates were in business as Oneil Cruz pinch ran for him. While Jake Mangum eventually moved him to third with an infield single, Tyler Callihan, Jared Triolo, and Endy Rodriguez all came up empty, and the Braves defeated the Pirates to complete the sweep.
This was a tough series, because it felt like the Pirates could have easily taken at least two games. Unfortunately, with the injuries piling up, the Bucs consistently found themselves with a replacement level player at the plate in big situations, and they were never able to push through.
The MVP of this series is a bit tough, as nobody stood out too much. Even though his outing did not end the way he wanted, this award can still be given to Bubba Chandler, as he had five fantastic innings and looked like he might have turned somewhat of a corner.
The Pirates get a day off today, but then match up with the deadly Dodgers for a three game series at PNC starting tomorrow. Paul Skenes will get the nod against lefty Eric Lauer on Tuesday, but the headliner matchup will be Shohei Ohtani versus Jared Jones on Wednesday. Let’s Go Bucs!
