The Pittsburgh Pirates went through a tough week of baseball finishing with a record of 3-4. The pitching struggled, especially early in the week, and it caused for some blow out games. However, the offense was still strong and was able to score runs throughout the week.
The Pittsburgh Pirates hit a little bit of a rough patch this week going 3-4 against the Detroit Tigers and the Milwaukee Brewers respectively. Pitching was a problem for the Pirates in Detroit and it effected the Pirates greatly on the road. However, when the Pirates returned to PNC Park, the pitching improved greatly and helped the Pirates in a big way in the last two games against the Brewers.
One thing has remained consistent through this rough stretch, however, as the offense has continued its tear that it has been on to start the season. Some players got on a roll like Andrew McCutchen and Matt Joyce and others continued the success they had in the first week like Francisco Cervelli. All-in-all this Pirates offense is one of the best in the league and continues to score runs on a consistent basis.
The first series of the week was a home-and-home series with the Detroit Tigers. After the offense struggled to score runs against the Cincinnati Reds, the bats broke out for seven runs and 17 hits to defeat the Tigers in game one. However, things went down hill from their as the Pirates dropped the last three games to the Tigers by scores of 8-2, 7-3, and 7-4.
Aside from Jon Niese's start in game one, the pitching was pretty bad in this series both for the starting pitchers and the bullpen. Juan Nicasio struggled mightily giving up four runs in just 3.0 innings of work and Arquimedes Caminero went through a stretch where he gave up four runs in 1.2 innings pitched in the series.
While the offense was scoring plenty of runs to stay in the ballgame, the fact that the pitching struggled caused the series to go for not. Ryan Vogelsong and Niese turned in the two good starts of the series with Niese giving up four runs, three earned, in six innings while Vogelsong gave up one run in 5.0 innings of work.
The question of who was going to be the Pirates designated hitter in the series was answered when Matt Joyce stepped up and had a very good series hitting .285 from the DH spot and providing some quality at-bats for the Bucs. The biggest problem offensively in the Tigers series for the Pirates was men left on base. In total for the four game series, the Pirates left 64 men on base. They were getting a lot of hits, but were not able to drive in the big runs when they needed to.
The first game of the Brewers series looked exactly like the last three games of the Tigers series. Starting pitcher Jeff Locke struggled giving up three runs, two earned in 4.2 innings pitched. The bullpen did not fair much better giving up two home runs, five runs in total, in the Pirates loss. The only spark of offense in that game was a three-run pinch-hit home run by Matt Joyce.
However, the second two games of the series were a different story as the bats broke out and pretty handedly beat the Brewers by scores of 5-0 and 9-3. Niese turned in the best start of any Pirates pitcher this season in the first game throwing seven shut out innings and Nicasio followed that up with a solid 6.0 inning outing today giving up three runs. The bullpen bounced back as well giving up no runs in five innings of work.
Caminero also had a bounce back in today's game giving up no runs in 1.2 innings of work. Caminero has had consistency issues throughout his time with the Pirates and this week we saw both the good and the bad of Caminero. When he is on he can be a force to be reckoned with, but when he is off it can be a long day for both Caminero and the Pirates.
The offense also showed just what it could do in the last two games against the Brewers. Andrew McCutchen got going as he hit his first two home runs of the year against the Brewers and in total hit .642 in the series (9 for 14) with two home runs and two RBI. Seeing McCutchen heat up is always a good sign for the Pirates and now couldn't be a better time for McCutchen to start producing.
In total, this week showed us both the good and bad of this Pirates team. When the pitching is good, the Pirates are one of the top teams in all of major league baseball, however, when the pitching is down it is a long game for the Pirates. The offense has the capability to score a lot of runs for this team, they just have to figure out how to do it on a more consistent basis without leaving runners on base.
Play of the Week: Starling Marte robs Domingo Santana of a home run
One of the only bright spots of the Pirates loss to the Brewers Friday night, Starling Marte leaped at the wall to rob Domingo Santana of a home-run. Up to that point in the game, there was nothing to really cheer about. Marte was having a big day at the plate and then this acrobatic plate topped off the night for Marte. Unfortunately the Pirates were not able to pull out the victory as they lost to the Brewers 8-4.
Hitter of the Week: John Jaso (.416 (10 for 24) 2 RBI 3 Walks and 2 Doubles)
John Jaso had a big week for the Pirates batting out of the lead off spot hitting .416 this week including a 3 for 5 day in the final game against the Tigers. Jaso has hit safely in each of his last eight games including five multi-hit efforts. Jaso has played a solid first base and has hit safely in all but one game as a Pirate. While he doesn't have the power that Pedro Alvarez had he has brought much more to the position by getting on base consistently and setting up the rest of the Pirates hitters in the lineup.
Pitcher of the Week: Jon Niese (2-0 2.07 ERA, 8 Strikeouts, 4 Walks)
Jon Niese picked up two wins this week against the Detroit Tigers and the Milwaukee Brewers. He turned in the teams best start of the season against the Brewers throwing 7.0 shut out innings while striking out five batters. He was helped out by great defensive play by the Pirates and he has grown as a Pirates pitcher. If Niese can consistently throw like he did the last two games he will be a strong hold in the Pirates starting rotation. This week he showed that he was capable of being dominant on the mound.
No comments:
Post a Comment