8/28/23- By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on Twitter
Leaving Pittsburgh following a lackluster loss to division-rival Cubs yesterday, Pirates likely felt that they were better than they showed. Today, they proved it against basement-dwelling Kansas City Royals as offense, defense and pitching all clicked as the Bucs won the opener 5-0.
Alfonso Rivas got the Bucs on the board in the 2nd inning. Following a single by Endy Rodriguez and walks to both Jack Suwinski and Liover Peguero, Rivas hit a sharp ball to 2nd base and the Royals turned a double play as Endy scored. In the third inning, Ji-hwan Bae and Ke’Bryan Hayes hit back-to-back doubles to add another on the board.
Kansas City’s veteran starting pitcher, Zach Greinke, looked uncharacteristically wild at times, lasting only 4.2 innings with 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts as he tossed just 45 of his 76 pitches for strikes.
Pirates added on in the sixth inning with a two-out rally. Hayes singled with Alika Williams on first, who scored when Andrew McCutchen singled sharply to left. Josh Palacios followed that up with a dribbler to first base and just beat out the throw, allowing Hayes to score. In the top of the 8th, Suwinski reached base on an infield single down the third base line and scored on a Rivas double to left, pushing the score to 5-0 for Pittsburgh.
On defense, Bucs were sharp and slick across the board as Hayes continues to make extraordinary plays look ordinary.
Johan Oviedo was the model of efficiency, shutting down the Royals shutout ball, allowing just 2 hits (both singles) and 2 walks while striking out 5 and going the distance. Most importantly, he threw 73 of his 112 pitches for strikes, attacking hitters and forcing weak contact with 10 ground all outs. He notched first pitch strikes against 17 of the 30 batters he faced.
News & Notes
- This is the first time the Pirates have had a 3-game series in Kansas City since July 2015
- Tonight was the 4th time in his career that Hayes has had 4+ hits and 2nd time this season (5/5 on June 9 vs Mets).
- This was Oviedo’s longest outing of his career as he has only gone 7 innings six times this season and once last year.
- Tonight was the 2nd time this season that a Pirates pitcher threw a complete game (Mitch Keller on 5/8 vs. Colorado – also a shutout)
- The game lasted just 2 hours and 16 minutes.
- Looking to keep rolling tomorrow night as the Pirates will face Kansas City southpaw Cole Ragans. Bucs starter is currently not yet announced. Game starts at 8:10PM EST. Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 
Even if it was “just the lowly Royals,” this was much-needed, a breath of fresh air for the club figuratively and for the pitching staff literally. I had just finished telling a friend that Oviedo was a solid starter yesterday afternoon too, haha.
I said 72-90 before the season and think that’s entirely attainable and practical from even a trade deadline standpoint. They’d need to go 13-17 the final 30 games. By my count, they’ve gone 12-15 this month so far. It’s really not even a high bar, but I wonder whether there’s a number that would represent that challenge to the manager. Is it 74 wins? 75? 76?
Remaining series against teams in the bottom half of MLB standings: KC, STL, WSN, NYY, CIN (barely), MIA (barely)
Remaining series against teams in the top half of MLB standings: MIL, ATL, CHC, PHI
So I think 9-6 from now through Sept. 14 is completely reasonable to expect with three last-place teams (approximate and with a slightly better record currently in Washington’s case) and two first-place teams. And then the last 15 games I’d consider 6-9 a reasonable ask.
So despite my prediction in March, I’d say 74-88 is a very reasonable bar to ask for at this point. The particulars matter, of course, but if they can’t reach that, then I’m all for continued questioning of what this coaching staff is doing to *produce wins and build momentum.*
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