The April Bucs Return in Huge 5-1 Week: 2023 Pittsburgh Pirates Week 9

The Pirates finished its brutal month of May with its first series win since April 29-30 as the team took two of three games in San Francisco. The Bucs then opened a nine-game homestand with a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. The Bucs have now won five straight games and are only 0.5 games out of first place in the NL Central.

Game 53: Pittsburgh 4, San Francisco 14

The Bucs turned to Rich Hill to rebound after a tough loss in Seattle. San Francisco would counter with Anthony DeSclafani. Other than a Tucupita Marcano lead-off double, the bats were quiet for both sides for the first inning and a half, but the Giants would quickly change that in the bottom of the second.

A Mitch Haniger single and Casey Schmitt double set the table to start the inning. Patrick Bailey’s two-RBI double would open the scoring before Brandon Crawford doubled in Bailey. Austin Slater would put the exclamation point on the inning with a two-run home run to make it 5-0 San Fran after two innings. The Pirates would get a run back in the third as Josh Palacios tripled and Austin Hedges drove him in via an RBI groundout.

The Giants would add on to its lead as Crawford singled to start the fourth inning. He would advance to second on a fielder’s choice before J.D. Davis singled him home. Hill would be done after gutting out five innings, allowing six runs. 

The Pirates would look to battle its way back into the game as Jack Suwinski blasted a solo homer into McCovey Cove to cut the deficit to four. Connor Joe would double, and Ji Hwan Bae would single, to really pressure the San Francisco lead. Rodolfo Castro grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice to cut the score the 6-3. Palacios and Hedges would both groundout to kill the Pittsburgh rally. 

The wheels would fall off the bus in the seventh as Cody Bolton would allow eight runs in just 0.1 of an inning. It would be 14-3 San Francisco after the seventh. Suwinski would launch his 11th homer of the season and second of the day into McCovey Cove to cut the lead to 10 in the ninth. The Pirates bad May continues.

Game 54: Pittsburgh 2, San Francisco 1

The Pirates would turn to Johan Oviedo to force a rubber match by the Bay as the Giants turned to opener John Brebbia. The Bucs would strike first as Joe launched a solo shot to left which chased the opener before the inning had even concluded. Sean Manaea would take over as the bulk man with two outs in the first.

The Giants would strike back almost immediately as a pair of walks led to a Michael Conforto RBI single. Oviedo would get Haniger to roll into a massive 5-3 double play to end the threat. Both arms would settle in until the Pirates re-took the lead in the top of the fifth. 

Castro and Jason Delay would rip back-to-back singles with one out to put runners on the corners. Castro advancing to third would prove massive as he would score on a Manaea wild pitch. His run would end up being the game-winning run. 

Oviedo returned for the fifth where LaMonte Wade Jr. doubled to begin the frame. After striking out Mike Yastrzemski, Derek Shelton would come get Oviedo in leu of Dauri Moreta. Moreta would walk Davis before getting the next two Giants, preventing the tying run from scoring.

Moreta would allow a single and get an out in the sixth before being replaced by Jose Hernandez. He would promptly get Bailey to line into an inning-ending double play. Hernandez would then get two outs in the seventh before giving way to Colin Holderman. He would get through the eighth inning clean leaving David Bednar three outs to get. Bednar would slam the door with a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the Pirate victory and force a series-deciding game three.

Game 55: Pittsburgh 9, San Francisco 4

The Pirates would send ace Mitch Keller to the mound looking for its first series win since late April. He would be opposed by San Francisco’s Alex Wood. The scoring would begin in the bottom of the second inning as Blake Sabol singled and Haniger walked to set up a Patrick Bailey RBI single. 

The April Pirates and their sense of punching right back would resurface in the top of the third. Ji Hwan Bae walked before Hedges bunted him to second. Andrew McCutchen would then tie the game at one with an RBI double. After a Bryan Reynolds groundout, Joe would be hit by a pitch, setting up a Castro RBI single. Ke’Bryan Hayes would break the inning open with a two-RBI triple making it 4-1 Pittsburgh. 

San Francisco would punch back in the bottom of the inning as Wade Jr. doubled and Davis singled to set up a Wilmer Flores RBI single. The lead was now cut to two but would not stay there for long. Bae would lace a one-out double before McCutchen worked a two=out walk. Following a double stela, Reynolds would drive in two with a single, growing the Pittsburgh lead to four.

The Giants would cut the lead to three in the fifth as Yastrzemski’s triple turned into a run following a wild pitch by Keller. The Bucs would once again punch back, getting two more in sixth. Bae and McCutchen singled before Reynolds rolled into an RBI force out. Joe’s 12th double of the season would plate Reynolds and make it 8-3 Bucs. Keller would allow once more run in the sixth before completing the inning and finishing his day.

A ninth-inning, Jack Suwinski RBI single would close the scoring and give the Pirates their ninth run of the game, pushing the score to 9-4. Rob Zastryzny, Moreta, Robert Stephenson and Yoah Ramirez all put in scoreless work out of the Pittsburgh bullpen. The Pirates would win its first series in May and head home with some momentum. 

Game 56: Pittsburgh 7, St. Louis 5

Roansy Contreras would get the ball to start the home stand for the Bucs as Jack Flaherty got the ball for St. Louis. The first two innings would pass with limited action before the Cardinal bats exploded in the third. After getting two quick outs, Contreras would blow up and the Cards would plate five two-out runs.

Tommy Edman got the hit party started with a double before Brendan Donovan launched a two-run home run. Paul Goldschmidt would immediately doubled following the homer and Nolan Gorman promptly singled him home. Nolan Arenado would cap off the offensive onslaught with a two-run homer of his own. St. Louis led 5-0 heading to the bottom of the third.

Contreras would gut out four total innings, allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out six. The Bucco bullpen would pick up his slack and end up tossing five shutout innings in relief of Contreras, starting with Zastryzny and Bolton tossing a combined 2.2 innings. Ramirez would extinguish a St. Louis bases-loaded threat in the top of the seventh as the Cards left them loaded for the third consecutive inning.

The sixth would see Hayes get the Bucs on the board with an RBI single, scoring Suwinski. It was in the bottom of the seventh is when things would really escalate for the Pirates offense. Marcano would lead off the inning with a double before McCutchen drew a one-out walk. Suwinski would walk himself to load the bases following a double steal by Marcano and McCutchen. Carlos Santana would then line a ground-rule double to left to cut the Cardinal lead to 5-3.

After Bae went down swinging in a long at bat, Hayes would give the Bucs the lead with a three-run homer to left. The Pirates would not be done there as Palacios would crush his first career MLB home run to give the Bucs an insurance run. The six-run seventh inning would see Pittsburgh lead 7-5 when it was all set and done. Holderman and Bednar went to work and it was a textbook ending for the setup man and closer as the Pirates won the series opener.

Game 57: Pittsburgh 4, St. Louis 3

Luis Ortiz would take the mound for the middle game of the series and look to secure a second consecutive series victory for the Pirates. Jordan Montgomery would oppose Ortiz for St. Louis. The scoring would start in the second when Wilson Contreras lined a solo home run to right center field. Two pitches into the third inning, the game would enter an hour-long rain delay. Ortiz would not continue following the delay and would post a final line of two innings, one run, one hit, two walks and a strikeout.

Angel Perdomo would make his Pirates debut and casually toss 2.1 perfect innings against St. Louis lineup. Freshly recalled Yerry De Los Santos would enter and finish the fifth as the Bucs still trailed 1-0. In the bottom of the inning, Hayes would come up big again as he tied the game with his second homer in as many games. 

Jose Hernandez would enter for the sixth and immediately find some trouble. After hitting Donovan with a pitch, Goldschmidt singled to put two runners on with no one out. Hernandez would get Gorman to fly out before giving way to Dauri Moreta. Moreta would get Arenado to flyout and Contreras to strikeout to end the threat.

Pittsburgh would begin the bottom of the sixth with traffic on the basepaths as Mark Mathias reached on an error by Arenado. Delay would sacrifice the pinch runner, Bae, to second before McCutchen grounded out. Reynolds would draw a two-out walk in front of Connor Joe who lasered a two-run double off the left field wall to put the Bucs ahead 3-1. Santana would add another run on a popup that found grass down the left field line off new Cardinal pitcher Jordan Hicks. Pittsburgh led 4-1 after six.

Moreta worked around a one-out double in the seventh to hand the ball to Holderman in the eighth. Goldschmidt singled with one out in the eighth which led to Gorman pulling the Cards within a run with a two-run home run over the Clemente Wall in right. After walking Arenado, Shelton went to get Holderman and replaced him with Ramirez. He was able to secure two pop outs and strand the tying run on first.

The Pirates threatened again in the bottom of the eighth as Reynold lined his 17th double of the season into the right field corner but was unable to score due to three straight strikeouts behind him. Bednar would enter for the ninth and got St. Louis to fly out three times around a Jordan Walker single to secure the 4-3 Pittsburgh victory and series win.

Game 58: Pittsburgh 2, St. Louis 1

Rich Hill took the hill against Miles Mikolas as the Pirates looked for the three-game sweep with an 11:35 a.m. EST first pitch. Hill worked around a leadoff Edman double in the first to keep the Cardinals off the board. 

The Pirates offense would get busy in the bottom of the inning as Reynolds and Suwinski slashed one-out singles. Hayes would single on a hard-hit ball to the right side to load the bases with two outs. Bae stepped in and delivered with a two-run single back up the middle to give the Bucs a 2-0 lead.

Hill would work around two baserunners in the second and third innings, then settle into the game. The veteran would retire 11 straight St. Louis hitters at one point before Andrew Knizner hit a solo homer to left in the seventh to cut the Pittsburgh lead to 2-1. After allowing a single to Edman, Hill would be replaced by Moreta. Hill’s final line would read 6.2 innings pitched, one run, four hits, three walks and six strikeouts.

Moreta would easily clean up the inning and send the Bucs to the eighth up a run. The Pittsburgh offense threatened all game, slashing 10 hits, including three from Hayes, but only mustered the two first-inning runs. Ramirez would get the opportunity for a hold in the eighth as Holderman was unavailable due to high pitch counts the past two nights.

Ramirez would get the heart of the Cardinal order to go 1-2-3 before hadnign the ball to Bednar for his third straight save opportunity. He would grab a flyout before Luken Baker dropped a bloop single into right. Bednar got Walker to flyout as well and then made Knizner look silly on a strikeout to end the game and secure the sweep for the Bucs.

General Notes:

• Robert Stephenson was traded this week to Tampa Bay for minor league shortstop Alika Williams
• Chris Owings was DFA’d and Cody Bolton was optioned to AAA
• Angel Perdomo and Mark Mathias were recalled
• Yerry De Los Santos was recalled then immediately optioned for Chase De Jong…I expect that move to be reversed soon as it was likely made due to bullpen fatigue
• Pittsburgh has the second-best bullpen ERA in the National League
• Top prospect Henry Davis was promoted to AAA Indianapolis

NL Central Standings

TEAM	WIN	LOSS	WIN %	GAMES BACK
Milwaukee	32	27	.542	—
Pittsburgh	31	27	.534	0.5
Chicago	26	32	.448	5.5
Cincinnati	26	33	.441	6.0
St. Louis	25	35	.417	7.5

 

Weekly Awards

Hitter of the Week: Ke’Bryan Hayes – 9/29 (.311 AVG), 2 HR, 2 R, 7 RBI, 2B, 3B

Starter of the Week: Johan Oviedo – GS, 4.1 IP, ER, 5 K, 3 H, 5 BB,

Co-Reliever of the Week: Dauri Moreta – 4 G, 3.1 IP, 0 ER, 3 K, 2 H, BB

Co-Reliever of the Week: Yohan Ramirez – 4 G, 3.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 K, H, 0 BB

Co-Reliever of the Week: David Bednar – 4 G, 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 K, 3 H, 0 BB, 4 SV

Upcoming Schedule

vs Oakland A’s (12-49) – June 5-7

vs New York Mets (30-30) – June 9-11