8/7/23- By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on Twitter
Coming home after a solid trip to Milwaukee to face the NL favorite Atlanta Braves is not ideal. Having to face the MLB leader in strikeouts – Spencer Strider – takes that to a whole other level but, somehow, in the face of adversity, this team rises to the occasion as they jumped all over the Braves for a 7-6 victory.
First few innings were fairly quiet as it appeared a pitching duel could be in order between Strider and Pirates starter, Osvaldo Bido. The Pirates got the scoring started in the third inning. Liover Peguero led off with a sharp double down the first base line, moved to third on an Alika Williams groundout and scored on a groundout by Connor Joe. Then, they kept the two-out rally rolling.
Bryan Reynolds walked and scored on a deep double to center by Andrew McCutchen, who would then score when Henry Davis singled to center. A pair of walks to Jack Suwinski and Endy Rodriguez loaded the bases for Jared Triolo to deliver the knock-out punch, driving a single to center and scoring two runs – but more importantly, ending the night for Strider. Unfortunately for him, he was still on the hook for some baserunners. Reliever Mike Tonkin came on and hung a pitch as Peguero drove a high sinker to center for his second hit of the inning and the team’s sixth run.
Atlanta would battle back in the 4th as Bido’s struggles second time through the order continued. Ronald Acuña lined out to center but Ozzie Albies homered to right, Austin Riley doubled to left and Matt Olson singled to drive in Riley. Following a Sean Murphy hit by pitch, Marcel Ozuna stuck a ball to right field that bounced under Davis’s glove and resulted in two more runs scoring.
Connor Joe led off the bottom of the 4th with a blast to left field, his second straight game with a long-ball.
Yerry de los Santos relieved Bido in the 5th and managed to get two outs but allowed two baserunners as well and, facing the league leader in home runs and RBI, was pulled for a left-on-left matchup with Olson as Ryan Borucki was summoned. Olson was able to fight off a slider on the outside corner, shooting it into right and driving in another run.
Following a lengthy rain delay, Jose Hernandez came on for the 6th inning, retiring two of four batters he faced before Carmen Mlodzinski came on to get the last out. A big moment of the inning came when Triolo made this grab for the 2nd out.
Mlodzinski took the 7th, Angel Perdomo shut it down in the 8th and David Bednar finished it off with his 23rd save of the season – albeit, not without some drama. Action on the bases with a lead-off double from Michael Harris II, coming around to score with a ground-out to first by Albies but team managed to hold it down to secure the win.
News & Notes
- 2.2 innings marked the shortest outing of the season for Strider and ties the shortest start of his career. Coincidentally, the previous one was on August 7, 2022.
- The game was delayed for 78 minutes due to rain.
- Peguero is the youngest Pirate to record 2 hits in an inning since Barry Bonds.
- With his 9th round-tripper of the season today, Connor Joe set a new career-high for home runs. He previously hit 8 in 2021 with the Colorado Rockies.
- Endy showed off his swim move avoiding a pick-off at first base.
- Pirates patience paid off as the Bucs walked 6 times tonight against 8 strikeouts.
- Game two tomorrow night with Mitch Keller facing Yonny Chirinos. Start time is slated for 7:05PM. Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 
Good recap, thank you. A nice win over the Braves and their ace starter.
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A long reliever can be incredibly valuable while also going undervalued in pretty much every way. That’s a niche contenders usually need, which is part of why I keep noting it. Maybe Bido can be such a pitcher for a few years. Zero shame in that, can be a big help to a club.
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I just woinder if Dazvis has been doing more catching – since Im guessing thats where he’ll play next year … plz let him get some work behind the plate hes a top 10 catcher but not a top 20 RF
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From what we’ve been told, he’s been working on catching outside of games but his receiving skills are not where the team wants them to be. Likely will get some time behind the dish this year but mostly will be RF and continue working on catching in off-season. Most of his misplays in OF have been due to over-aggressiveness but he is showing improvement and his arm plays out there. Not sure if he sticks behind dish nor if you need him to with how Endy has looked on defense and offense
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I just mean I’d like to have a pair of strong-armed catchers to control the running game which both seem more than capable of – saw Davis’s are behind the dish last fall. I like the idea of both Him and Endy being multi positional great way to keep both in line up without losing cutch’s bat @ DH
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Ryan Doumit is clearly the future. We are set at catcher. Goodbye, Ronny Paulino, and hello 3B for Neil Walker. What could go wrong?
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