Game One of the series was set up to be an exciting night, and it delivered. For the first time, the Pirates donned their new City Connect jerseys—a true black-and-gold colorway that is already extremely popular among fans. Former Bucco ace and fan favorite AJ Burnett threw out the first pitch and was a big part of the promotion for the new jerseys, and the near-sellout crowd was electric from the get-go.
Bubba Chandler had maybe his best start yet this season. While he had a start earlier in which he literally did not give up a hit, this was a massive step in the right direction for him. He has been very blunt about his disappointment with his command and his inability to pitch deep into games, and it seemed as though he came into this start with a clear goal in mind—get through innings. And that he did. While he only had three strikeouts, he finished six strong innings with just a single walk.
And yet, despite his great start, the story of this game was the bats. Matched against veteran righty Nick Martinez, multiple hitters got off to a hot start in this series. In an absurd stat, Spencer Horwitz is now 10-for-10 against Martinez in his career, which might be the best start against a pitcher ever. Brandon Lowe started his “revenge series” by collecting three hits, including two doubles, and Marcell Ozuna continued his hot streak with three hits. The highlight of the game, though, was an absurd home run by Oneil Cruz.
In a tie game in the sixth inning, Cruz came to the plate against Griffin Jax and somehow pulled a painted backdoor sweeper on the outside corner for a go-ahead blast. Already at six homers and nine steals, Cruz looks locked in this season.
The bullpen was also fantastic. Mason Montgomery has figured things out after a rough start to the season and was unhittable in this one. Gregory Soto followed with a perfect eighth, and Dennis Santana worked around some trouble in the ninth to lock down a 5–1 win.
Game Two was an absolute marathon. Sadly, it wasn’t one the Bucs won. In an interesting move, the game was actually moved up a couple of hours to avoid rain. It seemed like a smart call with Paul Skenes on the mound—at least let him get some innings in before a delay. The Rays had the same idea, rolling out ace Drew Rasmussen.
It started off great—Skenes was utterly dominant through four, and Ryan O’Hearn gave him some run support with a two-run blast in the first inning. Marcell Ozuna added on with a homer in the fourth to give the Buccos a 4–0 lead, and then it started absolutely pouring. The tarp came out, and a multi-hour rain delay ensued.
When the game resumed, Skenes had to be taken out, and new call-up Cam Sanders struggled mightily. He recorded just one out and gave up four runs in the fifth, and was followed by Evan Sisk, who also allowed a run to relinquish the early lead. Nick Yorke tied the game in the eighth with a single, but beyond that, the rest of the game followed a similar pattern until the thirteenth.
Both teams emptied their bullpens, and the Pirates simply couldn’t solve anyone they faced, tallying just seven hits in the game. Yohan Ramirez had a costly error in his third inning of work that allowed a run to score from first and ultimately ran out of gas. The Bucs mounted a small rally in the bottom of the 13th with a Konnor Griffin RBI single, but Joey Bart struck out to end the game in disappointing fashion.
Game Three was just a solid win. With the bullpen utterly depleted, the Bucs needed Mitch Keller to give them length against All-Star lefty Shane McClanahan, and he delivered. Going seven extremely strong innings, Keller gave up just two runs and was highly efficient. He could have probably gone all nine, but Isaac Mattson continued his strong stretch and relieved him in the eighth.
At that point, the Bucs held a solid 5–2 lead thanks to contributions across the lineup. Every hitter besides Oneil Cruz had a hit, Spencer Horwitz launched a pinch-hit solo homer, and Bryan Reynolds’ OPS continues to trend upward, surpassing the .800 mark with a two-hit day. Nick Yorke also hit his first homer of the season.
Also, for the first time since the 1990s, the Bucs had three bunt singles in one game, as Konnor Griffin, Jake Mangum, and Billy Cook all reached that way.
Up 6–2 in the ninth, the Bucs gave the ball to new call-up Wilber Dotel, a flamethrowing righty making his major league debut. He recorded his first big-league strikeout and got the ball back for safekeeping. His stuff looked great, touching 100 mph with his fastball, and his only blemish came against superstar Junior Caminero, who got ahold of one for a home run. However, it was too little, too late, and the Bucs secured a solid series win.
Series MVP has to go to Mitch Keller. While Marcell Ozuna tallied six hits and a homer, the Bucs truly needed Keller in the final game. He pitched to contact, got quick outs, and gave the bullpen a much-needed day of rest.
The Pirates get an off day tomorrow, then travel to Arlington for a series against Corey Seager and the Texas Rangers. Let’s go Bucs!
