9/10/23- By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on Twitter
Wrapping up the series in Atlanta with Luis Ortiz of the Pirates taking on Allan Winans of the Braves, turning out a surprising pitchers duel between one of the best offenses in baseball and one of the worst.
After combining for 24 hits and 12 runs over the first two games, the Braves didn’t manage their first hit of the game until an infield single by Matt Olson in the 4th inning as Ortiz held Atlanta at bay despite some hard contact throughout. Winans was matching him through the first 5 innings, at one point retiring 7 straight Pirates.
That all ended in the 6th inning as Ji-hwan Bae laced a 1-out single up the middle and scored when Bryan Reynolds shot a hanging sinker into the right field corner for an RBI double. Jack Suwinski followed up with a double of his own to drive in Reynolds and give the Bucs a 2-0 lead.
Ortiz followed up strong outings against Kansas City and Milwaukee with an even more effective outing against baseball’s top offense, lasting 5.1 innings with just 3 hits, 2 walks with zero strikeouts in the game today. He left in the 6th inning with runners on first and second as Ryan Borucki took over to try holding the lead. Following a wild pitch allowing runners to advance, he got Matt Olson to ground out to 2nd but it was enough to score a run and cut the lead in half.
Winans had a solid outing, generating 13 swings-and-misses against the Bucs bats over his 6.1 innings of work, allowing the 2 runs off 6 hits with no walks and 8 strikeouts.
Ryan Borucki relieved Ortiz and retired all three batters he faced before Colin Selby came on in the 7th and after a ground out by Travis d’Arnaud and walk to Orlando Arcia, he gave up a single to Michael Harris II and allowed a deep drive to center by Ronald Acuña, Jr., which scored two runs and put the Braves on top 3-2.
Selby left with 2 on and Thomas Hatch came on, allowing a walk to Austin Riley before Olson grounded a ball up the middle that just skirted past Ji-hwan Bae’s glove to score 2 more and give the Braves a 5-2 lead, which the Pirates were not able to overcome.
News & Notes
- Reynolds extended his hit streak to 11 games with his 4th inning single to center. Over that stretch, he’s posted a .340/.383/.591 triple slash.
- Suwinski has looked like he’s back on a hot streak lately, going 7 for his last 21 with 4 extra base hits over the past week.
- Pirates head back home for their penultimate homestand of the season as they host the Washington Nationals. First pitch scheduled for 6:35PM. Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 
Good recap as usual, thanks. I’m pleased they took one from Atlanta and especially the game I attended. 🙂 Time to take care of business against two last-place teams: Even with the Yankees’ superior record in a loaded division, I firmly believe it’s reasonable to expect Pittsburgh to win both series on home field. Save the losses for the playoff race gauntlet of a final road trip.
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