08/01/23 – By Ethan Smith – @mvp_Ethan on Twitter
Is your thumb tired? If it is, I understand. Much like myself, you were probably scrolling Twitter, *cough* sorry I mean “X”, during the waning hours of the 2023 trade deadline.
The Pirates made three more moves prior to the 6pm ET deadline on Tuesday, seeing the departures of Rich Hill and Ji-Man Choi to San Diego, Austin Hedges to Texas and Rodolfo Castro to Philadelphia.
After all the news of the trade deadline, which as it does every year, didn’t disappoint, we still had baseball to play on the North Shore.
Pittsburgh kicked off the month of August and the first game post-trade deadline against the Detroit Tigers and didn’t wait to let the young players continue their takeover.
The first inning came and went, but a Connor Joe single, who I’ll add will likely man first base for the most part of the end of the season, led to an Endy Rodriguez triple, his second in the past few days, to give the Pirates an early advantage.
Liover Peguero would add to the Pirates lead shortly after with a 102.9 mph, 400 foot shot over the left field wall to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead through the first two innings.
A point of emphasis for the final two months of the season will surely be keeping the rotation and bullpen healthy and performing well, and Johan Oviedo answered the call Tuesday night, pitching seven strong innings of one-run baseball while adding five strikeouts against the Tigers lineup.
Josh Palacios, who hit the walk-off home run to win the series against the Phillies on Sunday(see my last game recap *wink*), would add to the Pirates lead in the fourth, scoring Jared Triolo on a sacrifice fly.
Angel Perdomo would relieve Oviedo after his strong start, pitching a scoreless eighth inning to keep a three-run advantage for the Pirates.
After a scoreless eighth, David Bednar would come on for the save opportunity in the ninth.
Bednar shut the door on the Tigers to win the first game of the two-game set against the Tigers in the Jim Leyland Cup 4-1.
With the win, the Pirates are now 7-3 in their last 10 games and 10 games under .500 at 48-58. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez(2.95 ERA), who used his no-trade clause to block a trade from the LA Dodgers Tuesday, will face off with RHP Osvaldo Bido(4.50 ERA) on Wednesday.
News & Notes
- Pirates see departures of Carlos Santana, Rich Hill, Ji-Man Choi, Austin Hedges and Rodolfo Castro during 2023 trade deadline
- Acquire 5 players along with international bonus pool money across four trades
- Johan Oviedo line: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
- Endy Rodriguez picks up second triple of MLB career
- Liover Peguero homers for the third time
- Alika Williams has first multi-hit performance of MLB career
Steel City Pirates 