8-6-21 – By Gary Morgan @gaymo2007 on Twitter
Last game against Milwaukee, I told you all about how the bullpen was an issue this club would not often overcome. Last night the bullpen held the Reds in check, problem was Wil Crowe gave up 7 runs in the first two innings, and believe it or not it could have been worse.
OK, you got me, Duane Underwood Jr. would have given up a couple too…
Point is, if it’s the starting pitching or the relievers or the weak offense, the stars aren’t going to align on most nights.
The Pirates tried something new last night with the lineup. Hoy Park leading off again but this time, instead of Ke’Bryan Hayes taking his normal spot batting second the Pirates decided to bat him cleanup for the first time in his career.
It seemed weird timing because Hayes is mired in one of his worst stretches as an MLB player, in fact he came into the game sporting an 0-19 streak at the plate. Before the game though, Derek Shelton took some time to personally work with Ke’ and while it only resulted in one hit tonight, I can’t help feeling that batting him cleanup was a way to show they still trusted his ability.
Interesting.
The Pirates tried to fight back and had opportunities to tie the ballgame, but the hole was just too deep.
Back at it tonight with JT Brubaker vs Wade Miley.
News & Notes
- Anthony Banda made his Pirates debut pitching an inning scoreless
- Nick Mears continues to build, tossing another scoreless inning tonight.
- This series will destroy this staff if they don’t get a decent outing from someone. Brubaker today, Keller tomorrow and Wilson on Sunday. Now, I’m not a pessimist but it seems tonight’s contest is pretty important in this regard.
- Colin Moran should be coming back soon, and John Nogowski has come back to reality. I’d like to see the Bucs stick with this Hayes in the cleanup spot thing for a stretch. It’s provided Reynolds with some much needed protection even if misguided on the part of our opponents.
- Kevin Newman had two more hits last night. He continues to improve with the bat. Look, he dug too deep a hole to ever make his numbers look passable this year, but again, he’s not someone I see the club just flushing.
- Gregory Polanco had a very impressive night two games ago, tonight, not so much. 0-4
- If you watched the first two innings of this game, you can’t discount the importance of Wil Crowe fighting through 2 more innings.
Inside The Bucs Basement 