Series Split with the Reds

This was a wild series for sure. It ended up being a split, which is partly frustrating because it really seemed like the Pirates could take 3 of 4, but considering that the starting rotation is a mix-and-match parlor trick, a split with the team with the 2nd best record in the majors is nothing to sneeze at.

A big theme throughout this series was the perennial "Where in the world is the Pirates offense?" question. It seems like this question has been hounding the Bucs for 3 years now. Their pitching staff has been giving them miraculous chances over and over again, but because of their anemic offense the Pirates are only able to capitalize on so many of these opportunities. This team has been in the bottom 3rd of team OPS in the majors all year, and they're 43-30?!?! Imagine if they had a MLB average or just a slightly above average OPS. Say they pushed their team OPS from 0.680 to 0.720. Now that would be a team to be reckoned with.

But here we are, still a good team, but an incomplete one, splitting a series with the best of them. Let's take a quick game by game look.

17 June - Pirates 1 Reds 4. This was probably the least interesting game of the 4. Liriano pitched fine (2 ER in 6 IP) but did not pitch well enough to win on a night the offense wasn't there. They just could get much going against Leake who pitched 7 IP and gave up a run. They scattered 6 hits against them but couldn't capitalize on any of them. It happens.

18 June - Pirates 4 Reds 0. The story of this game was the 1st inning. Marte hustled a triple, was knocked in, and Pedro knocked in some guys behind him. The Pirates did not let go of their lead as Morton put in a good, if a bit short, start and the bullpen did there magic to seal it.

19 June - Pirates 1 Reds 2 F/13. There you go, another landmark game. This time it was a loss, and one hell of one at that. When you can't score runs you're walking a tightrope when it comes to the bullpen, and lo and behold the untouchable Grilli gave up a 9th inning game-tying solo shot to Jay Bruce. Honestly, something like this was inevitable. Nobody expected Grilli to go the rest of the year without blowing a save, but damn it didn't have to be like this. This game screamed more than any previous one how badly the Pirates need an offensive boost, whether that be from a trade or elsewhere. They wasted a stellar outing by the enigma of the majors Jeff Locke, not because of their bullpen, but because of their offense. You can't count on a 1 run lead over the Reds in Great American Ballpark. In fact that's not a tightrope, that's a line of string covered with slime dangling over a pit of alligators. You just don't expect it to go well most of the time.

The Pirates squandered some golden opportunities in regulation to pad their lead, but the most heartbreaking moment of the whole season occurred in the Top of the 12th with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd. With the pitcher's spot due up Hurdle called on Brandon Inge, who turned in a horrendous at-bat capped with and inning ending double play. Completely and utterly gut-wrenching this at-bat was, it almost made me hate baseball. It was that bad. God, the Pirates need some hitting.

Inevitably, the game came to an end in the 13th as the Reds scored a run off Vin Mazzaro on some bloops and bleeders that weren't really his fault.

We had this game. We blew it. Where the fuck is our offense.

20 June - Pirates 5 Reds 3. So the 13 inning fiasco the night before turned this getaway day game from a "wouldn't it be nice to win" to a "must-win." Well, at least as must-win as a game in June can get. But the Pirates really didn't want to lose this series to their division foe. And thank god for Pedro Alvarez, because if it weren't for him (and starting pitcher Brandon Cumpton, who was the unsung hero here, especially seeing as he was sent down to AAA the next day) the Pirates would be heading to Anaheim on the tail of a series loss. Pedro went into full beast mode/El Toro mode/Daydro mode and knocked in 5 runs on 3 hits (a solo HR, an RBI single, and a 3 RBI double) and dragged the Pirates kicking and screaming (as Pat Lackey would say) to a victory.

Alvarez's numbers are and will be continuing to be inconsistent due to his very high strikeout rate, but he has the talent to pull games like this out of the bag on a regular basis. And the timing worked out pretty well. Off to Anaheim! The Bucs are 43-30. 3rd in NL Central. 3rd in the MLB. 1st in our hearts.