Pirates can’t get by Cubs in 3-2 defeat

Sep 23, 2022 - 10:58 AM

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The Pittsburgh Pirates got another solid outing from Mitch Keller, but the typical issues with the bats were ever-present in a 3-2 defeat, as the Bucs only managed six hits on the day.

Keller finally putting it all together for an extended period has been one of the few bright notes on the Pirate ship this season, and he was mostly good again, finishing with a line of six innings pitched, giving up two runs on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. His only real hiccup was in the second inning when he got in a jam and gave up a two-run double to Christopher Morel. Keller did wind up with the loss to fall to 5-12 on the season.

David Bednar was also back in action and looked like he hadn’t pitched in a while, giving up a run off of two hits and a walk in just one inning. I’m honestly surprised they trotted him out at all with just 12 games left in the season.

On the offensive side, it was much of the same that we’ve seen all year, though Bryan Reynolds showed out with a 3-for-3 day with two doubles, two walks, and an RBI single in the third.

Kevin Newman hit a solo shot in the seventh to bring Pittbsurgh to within one run, and though they would threaten again later that inning and once more in the ninth, ultimately they were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and that’s not going to get it done.

With their 95th loss, the Bucs are essentially assured of 100 losses this year. They’d need to go 8-4 over the final 12 games to avoid it. Yeah, that’s not happening.