PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Coming into Friday night’s series opener versus the Red Sox, the Pirates had lost each of their last seven series. A team that wasn’t too far out of the postseason picture over a month ago was suddenly now far behind in the wild card race, and fading fast due to a combination of shoddy starting pitching and a lack of offensive consistency.
At this point in the campaign, all the Bucs can do now is continue to fight. That was the exact sentiment manager Don Kelly shared after the club’s win over Miami Thursday afternoon.
“We just have to keep going. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We just got to keep competing like we have all year,” Kelly said.
Looking to build off the momentum of Braxton Ashcraft’s complete game the day prior, the Pirates hoped to start off on the right foot Friday by downing one of the hottest teams in baseball. They did so comfortably. Despite facing a left-handed pitcher, the Bucs dispatched the Red Sox 8-4 to take Game 1 of the series.
Bubba Chandler’s stellar August rolls on
Besides Ashcraft, it’s hard to say there’s been a better Pirates arm in the month of August than Chandler. Though to be fair, that isn’t exactly too high of a compliment considering the recent poor performances from most of Pittsburgh’s rotation (see Skenes, Paul). Regardless, pitted against a high-flying Red Sox lineup, Chandler didn’t give it much to work with.
From his first pitch, Chandler kept Boston off balance with a combination of four-seamers, sliders and sinkers. Not only did he force the Red Sox into poor contact, but he burned their order with a combined 5 punchouts. His only hiccups came at the top of the fifth inning when he gave up back-to-back walks and a single, which scored Boston’s first run. A sac fly moments later gave it its second, but that was as much offense as the Red Sox managed under Chandler’s watch.
Through three starts in August, Chandler has now allowed only four earned runs and racked up 15 Ks.
Bucs Finally Burn a Lefty
For the first time in weeks, the Pirates’ lineup finally turned in a strong outing against a left-handed pitcher. The Red Sox made the right call placing Jake Bennett on the mound to open a series, an arm that based on statistics alone should’ve exposed the Bucs. After all, lefties have been Pittsburgh’s kryptonite as of late, especially without the likes of solid lefty hitters like ONeil Cruz. But baseball isn’t played on paper.
Rafael Flores got things started for the Buccos with a no-doubter over the right field wall to make it 1-0 in the second. The hit parade went on in the fourth, as Ronny Simon knocked a leadoff single before Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez both doubled to grow the lead to three. Another Flores RBI brought it to four.
Though he racked up 6 Ks, Bennett closed the night with a final line of 5 H, 4 ER and 1 BB after 4.0 IP.
Rafael Flores Jr. Stays Hot
Plenty of Pirates batters enjoyed themselves Thursday in Miami amid a 13-1 squashing of the Marlins, a win that had to feel good for a team that’s struggled to put up consistent offense since the MLB Trade Deadline. At the forefront of that blowout was Flores Jr., who finished the day with 2 homers and 6 of Pittsburgh’s RBI.
In just his first at-bat matched up with Bennett Friday, Flores picked up right where he left off down south. He ripped the fourth pitch he was offered over the right field wall, bringing him up to three homers in two days and four total on the season. He later added on another RBI to help pad the Pirates’ lead.
ONeil Cruz Minors Update
After being sent down from AAA Indianapolis to AA Altoona on Tuesday, ONeil Cruz made his third appearance for the Curve Friday night at home against Akron. Cruz was held hitless on four at-bats, grounding out twice before lining out and going down on strikes. He’s now only logged two hits in five rehab appearances between AAA and AA, a sign he still has some work to do to get back to MLB form.
Up Next
The Pirates meet the Red Sox for Game 2 of the series tomorrow night, with Bucs RHP Jared Jones (2-4, 5.03 ERA) matching up against Red Sox ace RHP Sonny Gray (14-3, 2.79 ERA). Jones crumbled in his previous outing against the New York Mets on August 9th, as he surrendered 6 hits and 8 earned runs before being pulled after three innings. Dan Zangrilli has the North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show at 6:20pm with first pitch set for 7:15pm on 93.7 The Fan.
