For just the second time since the All-Star break, the Pittsburgh Pirates have won a series. When they needed it the most, the team finally looked like its first-half version again, as the bats and arms both showed up for two massive wins.
Game one felt like a massive break from the horrific last month for the Bucs. As they approached the first pitch, it just felt like a game we have seen the Pirates lose countless times – matched up against a great lefty in Jake Bennett and a solid Red Sox offense, it looked like a recipe for disaster. And yet, the Bucs showed out. Bubba Chandler set the tone early, blanking the Red Sox through three perfect innings, and the bats were there to back him up. Rafael Flores Jr. homered in his third consecutive plate appearance in the second inning, establishing himself as a lineup staple versus lefties going forward. The score was still just 1-0 in the fourth when Jake Mangum, Jared Triolo, and Henry Davis combined for a fantastic relay to gun down Willson Contreras at the plate to keep the Sox scoreless. The Pirates’ lineup immediately responded, as Ronny Simon singled before Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez both smacked doubles, and Flores tallied yet another RBI with a single. Boston rallied for two runs the next inning, but Brandon Lowe put the dagger in right after with a massive three-run homer off a lefty. After that, the Bucs shifted up their bullpen plan, going straight to Gregory Soto in the sixth inning. The offense scored one more run on a Caleb Durbin error that pushed the total to eightruns, and it looked out of hand. The bullpen wasn’t perfect, as Camilo Doval and Kirby Yates both gave up plentiful runners, but the fires were put out, and Mason Montgomery came in for a one-out save to close it out.
Game two was less fun. Sonny Gray completely dominated the Bucs, going seven scoreless with a strikeout per inning. Jared Jones was pretty good as well, going five one-run innings with seven strikeouts, but the offense just never got it going in this one. The Bucs were never able to push across a run, and even though Valdez and Jake Mangum both had multi-hit games, nobody else had a memorable day at the plate. The Sox pushed their lead to four off of Luke Weaver, tagging him for three runs, and the Bucs dropped this one 4-0 to set up an absolutely crucial game three on Sunday.
Sunday felt about as good a time as any to get off the schneid, and the Buccos held up their end of the bargain. The Pirates’ listed starter was Lake Bachar, who has a good amount of multi-inning work in his career but isn’t a traditional starter. The lineup looked funky against another lefty in Patrick Sandoval, with Jared Triolo leading off and a Nick Yorke/Billy Cook tandem in the 7 and 8 holes, but it paid off. Valdez and Reynolds had back-to-back doubles in the first, and Brandon Lowe shot a single to the opposite field to bring in a second first-inning run. Bachar was masterful, going three scoreless, and as he exited the game, the Pirates’ offense absolutely turned it on. Valdez doubled again, Reynolds drove him in again, and then Lowe drove Reynolds in again. Jake Mangum and Nick Yorke both singled to push the lead to 6-0, and then Billy Cook drew the first walk of his career to load the bases for Henry Davis. Hank got a run in with a sac fly, and the 7-0 lead felt comfortable with this new and improved Pirates bullpen. Hunter Barco was the middle man, and he wasn’t great, giving up three runs in three innings. And yet, he didn’t let the game get too close, and he got the game to a rain delay going into the seventh inning. After a long delay, Kirby Yates, Doval, and Mason Montgomery made quick work of the Red Sox to close the game out, while Nick Yorke got another RBI in the bottom of the seventh to score Flores. It was an important one for Yorke, as it was his first game back from the minor leagues, and he was matched up against the team that drafted him in the first round and traded him.
This series was needed in the worst way. After falling behind a number of other teams in the Wild Card race, the Pirates are out of time to keep losing series and need to go on a run here. After a fantastic final game of the previous series in Miami, the Bucs kept the pressure on the Sox and hope to parlay this into some more wins.
Series MVP is a little tough, as many members of the offense tallied plenty of hits and RBI, but it felt like Esmerlyn Valdez was the biggest winner of this series. Valdez was the best hitter in baseball for about a month, then seemed to have completely lost it for about a month. However, he came back in this series with five hits, just narrowly missing home runs multiple times. Despite the rough stretch, his OPS still sits at .939, and he seems like he might have found a home in the 2-hole versus lefty starting pitchers.
The Buccos remain at home on Monday as they kick off a series versus the suddenly surging Detroit Tigers, who sold at the deadline but have been solid since, as they are just a game out of the AL Wild Card. Carmen Mlodzinski will get the ball for game one, looking to rebound from a stretch of really bad outings in his return to the rotation. Opposing him will be veteran lefty Framber Valdez, who the Pirates made a legitimate run at in free agency. The game will kick off at 7:05 EST on ESPN. Let’s Go Bucs!
