PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Offensively it wasn’t much different than recent games, however for Don Kelly’s first game as Pirates manager, no errors or mental mistakes and excellent starting pitching followed by a little drama in the ninth and a 3-2 win over Atlanta Friday night.
"Really good, especially the way the guys competed tonight, grinded it out," Kelly said. "Came through when they needed to. Felt the energy was good and the way they played was really impressive."
Starter
Bailey Falter gave up a couple of hard-hit balls, but the Braves managed only a pair of singles as Falter walked a pair and struck out three over six scoreless innings. After giving up seven runs the last start in April, Falter has given up one run in 13 innings in May.
"I think just command right now," Falter said. "Command of all the pitches. I think the last two starts, the heater has been in a really good spot. Feel like we've been executing it really well. And then, I feel like a broken record, as soon as we developed the heater, it just else plays so well off of it. So, I feel like we're in a really good spot right now. Just kinda trying to continue to ride that wave."
Relievers
Caleb Ferguson striking out pinch-hitter Alex Verdugo to clean up a Chase Shugart seventh inning. David Bednar gave up a pair of singles, but otherwise struck out the side in the eighth.
Dennis Santana provided some tense moments for Kelly in the ninth. He gave up a triple to lead off the inning. Then after two outs including a sacrifice fly, an RBI single to cut the lead to one, but got Ozzie Albies to fly out to earn his fourth save.
Scoring
The Pirates first run driven in by a late add to the lineup. Tommy Pham was pulled late and Alexander Canario instead played in left field and drove a pitch over the Clemente Wall in his first at bat for a 1-0 lead in the third. Jared Triolo would hit his first home run of the season in the sixth and then Andrew McCutchen’s double off the top of the centerfield wall drove in Bryan Reynolds to finish off the inning. Bucs finished with five hits and left one runner on base.
Next big pitching thing
The Pirates second-round pick in 2022 pitched 25.2 scoreless innings over six starts at AA Altoona with 34 strikeouts to seven walks. Making his first appearance in AAA, Barco gave up a run on two hits, three walks and five strikeouts over 4.1 innings against Columbus (Cleveland AAA team).
The 6’4”, left-hander isn’t as powerful as a Paul Skenes or Jared Jones, but has an outstanding slider and splitter to go with great control. He’s currently the Pirates fifth-rated prospect by MLB.com.
Next big hitting thing
Bucs 2024 first-round pick Konnor Griffin had another huge night at Class A Bradenton. The 19-year-old, right-hand hitting shortstop, who can also play center, went 4 for 4, hitting his sixth homer, now with 17 RBI, a .283 batting average and .852 OPS.
Up Next
Game 2 of the series and what is becoming a traditional 4:05 Saturday start time at PNC Park as Bucs lefty Andrew Heaney (2-3, 3.18 ERA) faces Braves righty AJ Smith-Shawver (2-2, 3.00 ERA). Dan Zangrilli starts the North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show at 3p on 93.7 The Fan.