Hill Dominates Cards as Bucs Complete Series Sweep (31-27)

6/4/23- By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on Twitter

Following two games where the bullpen had to cover 12 innings of work, Rich Hill decided to give them as much of a break as possible, lasting 6.2 innings, allowing only 1 run off 4 hits with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts in his performance.

Bucs got on the board against starter Miles Mikolas early as Ji-hwan Bae took advantage of a first inning bases-loaded, 2-out situation to singled to center to score Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski, providing all the run support the team would need.

Hill ran into some trouble in the 7th inning following two quick outs as Cards catcher Andrew Knizner homered to left cutting the lead to 1. Tommy Edman followed with a single to left and that was the day for Hill. Bullpen continued their tear of success as Dauri “Money” Moreta came on and struck out Paul Goldschmidt to end the inning. Yohan Ramirez pitched a 1-2-3 8th and David Bednar shut down the 9th, notching his 13th save in 14 chances, including 3 of 3 in the weekend series.

#RaiseIt🏴‍☠️ pic.twitter.com/hjSOw13ESQ

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 4, 2023

News & Notes

• Ke’Bryan Hayes didn’t manage to homer in his third straight game but stayed hot going 3-for-4 on the day. He finished the weekend series going 7/11 with 2 runs and 5 RBI, boosting his batting average to .242 – up from .221 coming into June. He appears to have really figured something out lately.

Hayes adding the toe tap has stacked him on the back side earlier, helped him get behind and stay behind the ball better with rhythm and a constant feel for the ground which is where you power comes from. This allows time to happen, and has lead to better swing decisions and… pic.twitter.com/T3d6FU5jzK

— Michael McKenry (@theFortMcKenry) June 4, 2023

• Bae swiped two bags in the game today, now sitting at 17 stolen bases on the season, which is tied for 2nd in the National League.
• Cutch sat for the Sunday game, still sitting on 399 doubles, 1,997 hits, 49 triples and 295 home runs. It is likely he will reach some milestones over the remaining games of this homestand.
• This was the first time the Pirates have swept the Cardinals in a 3-game series since April 27-29, 2018. This is also the 4th series sweep for the Pirates this season.
• Pirates stay home and hope to stay hot as the Oakland A’s come to town for a 3 game series tomorrow with Johan Oviedo looking to keep the momentum rolling. First pitch is at 7:05PM. Let’s Go Bucs!