Our 3 Takeaways from Pirates’ 6-5 Late Win to Move Back Above .500

Yo. Welcome to the North Shore Nine podcast presented by FanDuel. This is the NS9 postgame show powered by Primanti Brothers. I'm your host, Anthony DiNardo. With me live at PNC Park is our boy, Neil. Neil, Pirates won tonight. Come from behind. It was actually an entertaining game. It was a good game. Pirates win 5-4.

Yeah, it was interesting being here watching the game because it went through like ebbs and flows, right? Where at the beginning, it was really hype. People were excited. And then as the Royals like slowly coming back into the game and taking the lead, that energy died. It was almost like a tune in here. And then as soon as Brandon Lowe hit that home run again, it was electric. And all I can really think of is how special he's going to be.

If the Pirates were still in it, if there was still a chance to make the playoffs, this place would have bumped in. It would have been packed. And instead, it's just we're going game over 500. But that's what I was thinking about. It could have been so much more today.

Yeah, especially with Brandon Lowe. He comes out today and talks about how he's all ears. There hasn't been any discussions about any extension contract or whatever. But he sounds like he's very open to coming back. Now, again, that's a whole other conversation. But the fact that discussion happened today, Brandon Lowe has been a big part of why this offense has been good. He had 32 home runs coming in. He already has the record for the most home runs by a second baseman in Pirates history.

that trade was a very fantastic trade in the Pirates favor here. And right, like if this was a playoff atmosphere going on right now and he hit that home run.

This would be one of those memorable moments, especially if they're fighting for a wild card spot, like you mentioned, it had its ebb and flows. The Pirates were winning to nothing. We'll talk about more of the game here later. then.

The world's score makes it two to one. The Pirates simply make it four to one. The world's come back and tight. The world's come back and take the lead. And then Brandon Lowe hits that two run home run. And right like that. Again, like this could have been one of those moments of why this season was fantastic.

And unfortunately, it's just to get them a game above 500 the day after they've been officially eliminated from the postseason.

That said, I will say like that eighth and ninth inning with how invested this crowd was, it felt a little bit like what I remember from 2018 and 2016 and 2015.

Like those really exciting times. Like we got a little bit of that back and that was a nice dopamine hit for right today.

Like it's like it set me down memory lane. Once I heard the crowd get into it after that Brandon Lowe home run.

absolute, even if it's only one year, somewhat of a club legend, most home runs hit ever at PNC Park in a season.

Yes.

I think, what is that? Like, I think they score four said he's a home run away from entering Barry Bonds territory.

That might've been out of course. I might be misspeaking, but like there's like this an amazing player.

He saved us so many times this year. And I agree with the tagline, lifetime contract. Give him whatever he wants.

Right. you know what? Like I said, we can have that conversation a whole other time about him coming back, whatever.

But yeah, lifetime contract. Bring it loud. Give it to him. Whatever he wants. For the rest of his life, he's a pirate. Here you go.

Because he's been fantastic. he has a five-four season.

And right. It's just, it's just a shame in a sense that is a season that doesn't mean much. It's not going to amount to much, but he has been fantastic for this team.

And right. You mentioned, today, last night as well was one of those games. it's fan appreciation weekend.

And I felt like it's the most party way the fans get the joy. It's two wins so far. They do win this series against the Royals, but they saw in a very party fashion as well.

Right. Yeah. Going to win. Then you're not going to win. And then they came back again. We talked about the team being resilient.

And once again, tonight, they show that resiliency. Let's start off. we're talking about Brandon Lowe here. Much deserved.

Let's talk a little bit about Bubba. he takes the start today. He's looked very good, especially post all-star break.

We've been talking about, even in his struggles, there's been things that you like about what he's been doing.

It's been much different from the early part of the season. And today I felt like it was another one of those starts where it wasn't good.

And he only lasts four innings. He goes into the fifth and immediately gives up two base runners and gets pulled.

So he was in the fifth, but only four innings. He lasted. He scored no outs. But again, 90 pitches, four innings.

It wasn't good. Ends up being three earned runs because of what happened afterwards.

But I felt like within the not good start, there were still also positive signs from Bubba Chandler today.

Yeah, I think we might've flipped positions on this because I remember several months ago how I was more encouraged and you were more discouraged.

Chandler wasn't necessarily bad tonight, but I think what's like keeping me on my mind is that it's a lack of development.

I feel like we have seen a lot of these where he is striking out a ton of people, but he was still really inefficient tonight.

He gave up a ton of hits and a couple of timely strikeouts really saved his time, which is great.

That's why he's a good pitcher.

I just feel like we've watched that start about 20 times this year where he struggles to get through five innings and he gave up a lot of base runners and he's able to limit that damage, but it's still frustrating.

And I want to see more from Bubba Chandler.

I want to see him putting these starts together.

And I feel like we've seen this a lot this year.

So what's ironic is it's not even really the same.

I guess it is.

four innings, three earned.

this could have been a four.

I guess what I'm alluding to here is you talk about the development, and I think I'm looking at the development in another light and dismissing another aspect of it where you're focused on that aspect and dismissing this one, which is probably fine because I think what we all know is Bubba has the stock.

Bubba has the stock.

Now, today, it wasn't really that.

He was very fastball heavy as well.

He was getting hit, like you mentioned.

Maybe working more of the secondary stuff in today's start.

Maybe trusting a little bit more.

Maybe not allowing guys to know you're throwing a fastball and have eight hits in four innings.

But I guess what I'm alluding to is the other aspect of the development.

Again, we know he has this stuff.

And so fine-tune that and maybe coming next year as a better all-around pitcher is what you're looking at, right, and what today could have been.

But I guess what I'm alluding to here is it's the same stat line but in a different way.

Earlier in the year, we would have saw four innings, five walks, three earned.

and maybe it's not eight hits.

Maybe it's three hits, right?

Maybe it's four hits, but it's like those five walks is what did him in because, like you mentioned, he got out of it because of the strikeouts.

And the thing is, he's not getting those strikeouts earlier on in the year, I feel like.

That's the part of the development.

That's the part I look at in today's start that, again, not a good start.

But within the bad start, there were positive things, and that's what it was.

To me, he didn't crash out.

He didn't allow this game to get away.

Yes, it's four earned.

That's not good.

But I'm sorry.

It's four innings.

That's not good.

But in those four innings, just the one walk, seven strikeouts, ends up being three earned because they did him no favors when they came in there, which is, again, he put him on.

But, like, I felt like it was a little bit different of a route, and it's one of those that I feel like you can live with better than seeing the five walks in the four earned.

And it's like you just, you did yourself in.

You're going to have bad starts.

You're going to have bad starts.

And I felt like if you're going to have a bad start, I'd rather see this as a bad start than giving up free pass.

You can't find the strike zone.

Because you can't find the strike zone, you're out there just imploding on the mound, and you just lose self of who you are as a pitcher.

And today, he just wasn't having it.

But he was composed, and when he needed a big out, most of the time, until he got into the fifth inning, he got it.

Yeah, no, I think that's a good point.

I do agree that the walk thing, as the year has gone on, has been amazing.

like, we were, I think it was, like, pretty common.

He was walking, like, three guys, a minimum, each start at the beginning of the year.

And, like, that wasn't close to happening today.

Like, he was getting consistent enough commands.

I think that's fantastic.

And, again, like, the strikeouts alone, where, like, he got himself, like, Memorials just kept peppering base runners, and he kept getting himself out of sticky situations, which is great.

That's stuff, like, I do, like, the seed from a rookie pitcher.

Yeah, I just, I want to see him put guys away a little easier.

I think this one that, anyway, where he throws a lot of pitches, but how bad.

And, yeah, it just shows, like, he was at 90 pitches when he gets pulled.

He left four innings at, I think, 84 pitches, 83 pitches.

I think that's, like, the next step.

But, no, he left with 90.

He was at 90 going into the fifth.

Whoops.

Anyway.

Oh, no, not going into the fifth.

No, but he got pulled at 90.

Yeah, he got pulled at 90.

Yeah, all good.

I just, I would, I think it's because the expectations of him are so high, and because we all see that ace-level stuff, I want to, I think my expectations are a little bit higher.

I think he's a better pitcher than what he was when he first came up.

But I would like to see more progress, if that makes any sense.

It does.

it does.

And I guess what we're talking about in this is the fact of, like, for me, what I'm more encouraged on is the emotional maturity that he's showing now, opposed to the first half of the year.

And to me, I think that was the biggest thing that he needed to overcome to be that guy, because it goes back.

Again, we know he possesses this stuff.

I don't think there's any doubt going into the offseason, now that he is showing that he can hone his emotions a little more, not let them get the best of him, right,

and take on that big situation and not let it be overcoming, right, not buckle down under that pressure.

He can face that situation head on and get through it.

And to me, that's the biggest part of the development that I've been wanting to see, because I feel like the rest is going to come.

And because it's, like you said, because we both know it's there, you maybe want to see it more.

And, again, like today, for sure, right, it wasn't there.

And that's what led to this being this type of a start.

But I just – I'm very proud of the way that Bubba has developed and matured right before our eyes on the mound from what he looked like in April to what he looks like right now in September.

No, that's fair.

And I do think that – I think part of it is just because I think when the Broyles put the ball in play today, they hit .500.

And so I just feel – I always just feel like Bubba's too good to let that happen.

I think it was more when Bubba was on the mound.

I think he got six outs by strikeouts, six outs by balls in play and gave up eight hits.

So that's where I'm just like, you're too good for this, you know.

Like, we all believe in you.

And I want to see – I think we all deserve to see more, like, six-inning appearances from Bubba.

Yeah, absolutely.

And maybe that's, like, the next step, which, again, if this was – right?

If this season was different and were a wild card hunt, we're probably talking about this start a little bit different.

But also because understanding some self-awareness, there's now nothing that means anything in the grand scheme of things.

How is the development going?

How are we looking into heading into next year?

That next part is what we need to see next year from him, for sure.

But I think what we are understanding is maybe that this – again, the emotional maturity that has developed with Bubba, I think we're good with it.

Like, I think we're there.

We're seeing the – we're seeing him be more of a presence on the mound.

And, again, that other stuff that he's going to work on the offseason, I fully expect, like, next year, we're probably going to see the Bubba that you're talking about.

I agree.

But, again, if it was a playoff run, we're like, hey, Bubba's the reason why.

They almost lost this game, and we can't afford that at this moment.

But right now, we can.

Anyways.

I agree.

There are positive signs.

I think I might be more negative than I have to be.

But just because it's hard for me to look at someone with ace-level stuff and not deliver with ace-level results.

I don't know.

I feel like I've – You feel like you got last night, too?

Well, yeah.

Byerton had a lot of issues with that, like, this year.

You're not wrong.

Yeah.

But, anyways, yeah.

So, Bubba does go, again, four innings, three earned, one home run, one walk, six strikeouts.

Sorry.

Wow.

Wi-Fi here is – yeah, Wi-Fi here is a little rough, I guess.

Yeah, you've been – I was wondering if that was just me.

You're coming in audio-wise.

All right.

I wonder if it was just me or – anyway.

That was Bubba's stat line.

And, again, get your hashtag raisins in the chat here.

That way we can give away these two free – I'm sorry, well, four.

The two winners, we made a brother's sandwiches at the end of the show.

So, yeah.

So, Bubba goes four innings.

Again, he goes into the fifth.

He doesn't record an out.

Two base runners come on.

They bring in Brandon Eisert.

Now, Eisert's stat line is one inning, one hit, no walks, no strikeouts, no earned runs.

But, of course, he is what allows those two to come in.

And, when Bubba left, it was still one earned.

He leaves.

Now he gets three because Eisert did allow the two to score.

But, again, Bubba allowed him on.

But, yeah, no help by Eisert, technically.

I thought Eisert did his job perfect.

obviously, he wants strikeouts.

But that was three straight outs.

He got three easy outs, settled the ship.

I thought he was quite good and just unlucky to give up those runs.

That said, really cool play by O'Hearn there.

To, like, between the legs flip.

That was really cool.

One of the better defensive plays, I think, of the season.

Yeah, it was one of those things that's like, yeah, the run scored and that stunk and that made it a 4-3 ball game.

Again, like, grand scheme of things, they're still winning.

But, damn.

And to see his smile on his face after he did it, he just scooped that between the legs.

I know you weren't watching the broadcast.

I'm not sure if you heard in the press box.

But, yeah, they were talking about how, like, this is the Savannah Bananas out here doing this.

Like, what's going on?

Kevin Young's going to be, smiling ear to ear on that one.

And, yeah, it was a very impressive play.

And also, like, I'll give some props to Eisert, too, who, like, you're not expecting it to happen.

So, he had the wherewithal to catch it and still make the out.

So, like, it's not equally as impressive, but I want to give some shout-out to Eisert for just having the heads up and knowing that was coming through the legs and catching it and still making the outs to tag the plate or the bag.

But, yeah, you are correct.

Like, this wasn't where it was Eisert.

It was just terrible and a lot of them come in.

it starts off, he throws a slider first pitch.

They have a double steal going on.

No throw to third, you know.

you at least could have attended a double play ball, get one out, have a guy in third and, make things happen.

Or at least just scoring one, try to get a double play there or such.

But immediately, they get the double steal.

Guy's on second, guy's on third.

So, the double play ball is gone now.

And they're trying to play small ball right and left to score.

And they did.

And they scored the two.

And, as mentioned, one of them was on the bunt that, they still made the out, but you still got the guy that had the score there.

And it was all set up because of that double steal.

So, yeah, it wasn't so much that, like, Eisert was just bad on the mound allowed them in.

It was just they – the double steal set up everything, though, unfortunately.

Yeah.

I think the Royals picked on Flores a little bit today.

They're clearly a small ball team.

they beat the Pirates by singles.

I think besides Jensen's home run, they didn't have a single extra base hit.

They had 13 hits on the day, right?

13 hits?

Am I right?

I believe it was 13, double check.

Yes, 13 hits.

Two blocks.

They ran like crazy.

Bobby is – you can't get him out.

It's almost impossible to get him out on the base pass.

He looked really good today.

So, the Royals played their game.

They're honestly unfortunate not to have scored more runs.

But, that said, I thought Eisert – that's why I think, like, Eisert did such a good job of getting balls in play to translate into outs.

And I think a lot of our pitchers – well, sorry, two of our pitchers struggled with that tonight.

Yeah, well, we'll go quickly again.

We talked about Eisert.

Lake Bachar comes in.

He does his job one inning.

No hits, no walks, two strikeouts.

So, the bullpen is doing their job, right, as they have done basically since the trade deadline.

It's a 4-3 ball game.

You're still feeling good about this.

Then, Camilo Doval comes in.

And, Neil, you were there to watch it.

Let's – tell us about Doval's appearance today.

Oh, it was – it was rough to watch.

Again, like I mentioned earlier, but, like, as Doval's inning was going on, the energy around the stadium was getting him sucked out because, like, the hits just kept coming.

And, like, he kept throwing a lot – it wasn't necessarily walking people.

He was throwing a lot of pitches and giving up hits.

The Orioles were running all over the base paths.

And, like, then the boobers started to come out.

And then the lead was just blown in the blink of an eye.

It really didn't take long for those two runs to cross the plate.

And I certainly felt like, I don't know, the Pirates' offense looked pretty dead.

I'm not sure they're coming back in this.

It was rough.

Yeah, not good.

Like, I put that on Twitter today because we have talked about this, right?

So you know where I'm coming from if you listen to this show.

But Doval was one of those guys that I was interested in seeing how this season's going to end with him because he has another year of control.

He'll go through arbitration for his last year.

So the Pirates could retain him.

He could be part of their 2027 plans.

How does he look the rest of the year?

Like, you're going to have to make a decision on him because his ARB number is probably going to be somewhere between the $6 million range, depending on, what he makes and such.

So how does he finish this out?

And I'm not saying this one, appearance changes or makes anything.

But I think what we're seeing right now is, like, he hasn't been terrible.

He hasn't been good.

The way I word it, he's just been fine.

He walks too much, too many batters.

That's for sure.

He walks too many batters.

Not that the walks today is what did him in.

It was the hits, which is something he has actually kept teams at, a minimum.

Like, he's using that slider much more this year since he's been with the Pirates.

So he hasn't allowed a whole lot of hits, but he's allowing a lot of walks.

Today was the opposite way.

But at the end of the day, he's just been fine closer on to, like, the below average side of things.

And I think we're going to answer, if you're going to cost that much in arbitration, like, there's really no reason to bring him back.

Yeah, today just wasn't good from him.

It certainly wasn't.

He goes, he does go the inning.

He finishes out.

He only had one out when he allowed four hits and two earned runs.

Yeah.

So he does finally finish out with another strikeout and then an out.

But, yeah, he gave the game away at that point in time.

Like you said, I don't know if anyone thought that this team was going to come back.

Yeah, do you might have the arb numbers up in front of you, which is why, like, you might know this.

Like, who's agreeing to six million in arbitration for Doval?

I would be shocked.

Right.

That's the thing.

Like, I don't know if, I don't really know if he was, with that trade coming in.

That's why probably, the Yankees were finally giving away because it's not like they probably won't bring him back, especially what he was doing in New York.

That's why I said, like, I'm interested as he comes here because, like, what if it's another Santana situation?

Like, what if he comes here and he unlocks something using that slatter as he was and, like, he just shows his, he's back to the old way or something.

You know what?

Let's take a risk on this because, yeah, it's still a lot of money, but, that's fair value per se.

like, Soto got seven and a half million.

So, like, if he comes in, I know he's a righty, but he's so into being super effective.

Like, I could see them maybe entertaining that, but at this rate, like, what he's looking at, yeah, I just don't, I just don't see it at all.

Because I would bring him back for the way.

Especially for the Pirates.

Yeah.

I'll say, because, like, the Pirates, I don't want to go into a situation where you're a treat, and I know it's like an off-season projection thing, but I don't want to, like, go into next year still depending on, like, guys from 2024 that we still hope and have stuff in the tank.

And I feel like Doval is a step above a lot of the guys that we saw in the early parts of this season.

I'm not going to say he's been good, but I think for the right price, if that's around $4 or $5 million in arbitration, I tender him.

Come back.

Yeah, it's not going to be that much.

It'll be high.

That's the thing.

Like, again, it's probably going to be somewhere between, like, the 6 to 8.

I feel like that's your variance.

Yeah, I don't think I'd give him Gregory Soto money.

Right.

But, darn.

Like, I'm assuming you have the numbers in front of you.

I'd just be shocked if a judge agrees to $8 million in arb for Doval after the struggles he's had.

But, you know what?

He still has those saves on his belt and his time, like, it could.

It could.

Again, I don't think it's going to be 8.

I think that's the high variance.

I think it's probably closer to the 6.

But, at any rate, I don't think it's going to, like, below that.

But, I don't talk too much about him.

He didn't look good today.

And, yeah.

Like, when you have your balkers, you have, obviously, Mason Montgomery, you want to talk about here.

Is that getting your weavers and such?

Like, it's, regardless, they're also going to pay that for, like, your 6th inning, man.

Especially, again, for the Pirates.

Like, you're just not.

So, yeah, we're seeing some more for Doval, and I think we're getting some answers with there.

But, yeah.

Again, it's a 5-4 ballgame now.

Weaver comes in.

He shuts his team down.

But, it's not over yet.

It's not over.

As we all talked about earlier, Brandon Lowe hits the home run.

It's a now 5-4 ballgame.

The base is going wild.

And now, Neil, it's a save situation.

So, who comes into the game?

Mason Montgomery.

I will say, they got a, they got a, I think they need to, the closer introduction for Mason needs to be a little bit more hype.

Like, they need to shut the lights off.

They need to, like, there needs to be more production put into this because my word has this man earned it this year.

This guy has earned a true closer's entrance.

He is that good.

Even when there was a runner on second, I didn't feel worried in the slightest.

I did not feel like Mikel Garcia was going to hit him.

I don't think whoever came up after Mikel Garcia was going to hit him.

It is so nice to have that calm presence and know that Mason Montgomery's got this.

just, he makes it easy.

Can I admit something?

I was nervous.

It's not, it's not the Mason Montgomery effect.

It's the Pittsburgh Pirates effect.

It's the, all right.

Well, it just, we can't win this, right?

Like, it's just going to, no, it's going to happen.

This is, because he has, he's been outstanding.

And you can't be perfect.

You simply can't be perfect.

He hasn't allowed an earned run since July 26th.

Since July 26th, he hasn't had an earned run, Neil.

Not an earned, not a run, not an earned run.

July 26th.

Let me say it one more time.

I don't think you're hearing me.

July 26th.

He hasn't had an earned run.

Since when?

So an earned run has to happen somewhere, right?

So I felt like, okay, this is going to be the, he finally, also he's doing it because he's not walking people.

He walks the leadoff hitter.

He, the leadoff hitter gets the second.

And now it's like, this is going to be perfect.

This is how it's going to happen.

This is how the game's going to get tied.

But he does it.

He comes through.

This guy loves the pressure.

He's been elite as, and I talked about this too.

Like, I felt like the more he put, got put into more pressure situations, right?

The more he got tested, the better he became.

And I'm not saying there's any correlation to it, but now he's been again, July 26th.

That's when he started entertaining the closer role and he's been perfect.

Yeah.

you start to lose words.

He is just, he, the transformation into like one of the best relievers in baseball.

It's not that just doesn't happen here.

This doesn't happen in Pittsburgh.

not for a decade, at least like this has just been an incredible development.

It's almost like a flip to switch overnight.

Like, I remember like, we were, we were really worried about him, like in May, even early June.

And then like, I think like, I don't know, like mid June happened that he just woke up and decided he was going to stop giving up runs.

I didn't even, I knew it was a long time.

I didn't realize it was July.

So you say that, say that one more time, what July, how long has it been?

July 26th and July 26th.

Yeah.

We're almost at two months or almost like two months.

He gave up to clean inning, gave up to cleaning, gave up one.

Then he had a little stretch there where he didn't give up any more runs and it was May 15th.

He gave up a few.

And then the end of May in the June 30th, he gave up five earned runs in 1.1 innings over two games there.

And like, that's what you're talking about.

Like it was since then.

Now, obviously like he's came in with some baggage.

You thought, okay, you're still seeing it, but it was right.

It was since the calendar flipped into June, right?

Well, June 1st after that, it slowly started getting there.

And I felt like he was being used in like that opener role a bit.

More and maybe that helped them or something.

I don't know.

But like, it just slowly started to flip for him.

And again, as it slowly started to, he's slowly gotten being put into more pressure situations.

And the more he did that, the more he kept succeeding.

And now he's the closer and he's perfect.

Yeah.

like it literally a perfect, like at this point, like it, I can't believe it.

Like I was excited.

I remember like when we talked about this trade post, this trade for Brandon Lowe and Montgomery and Mangum.

And we were just like, we love this as a throw-in.

We love Mason Montgomery as a throw-in.

But like even, I think like we all saw the potential that like he could develop into some useful reliever.

But not a single soul on the planet, unless you can pull up the tweets, proving that anyone said this, would ever assume he would be at this level of dominance.

Or like he would have taken the closer role.

I don't think that was even on the table for anyone.

So the fact that he was ascended to the closer, he is now one of the best closers in the sport.

It's incredible stuff.

It has been incredible.

Well, we were talking about developments, right?

Earlier, this started with us talking about Bubba's development, right?

Mason Montgomery, I think the development is just, that's the story of this year.

If you want to talk about developmental aspects, it is him.

For sure.

So, another outstanding performance by him.

He shuts it down.

Pirates win the ballgame.

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So, yeah, the pitching, we talked about.

Let's get to the hitters just a little bit here, and then, of course, we can give away those sandwiches.

So, we've talked about Brandon Lowe, outstanding game.

Can we talk about Oneil Cruz some more here, too?

Like, Oneil Cruz has just been dominant since the turning, and it's not just because, hey, like, I know the strikeouts are here and there.

Like, he did have that one game he had the four strikeouts, right?

But the dude's hitting.

Like, that average keeps escalating higher and higher.

And Oneil Cruz today, once again, two hits, two for three with.

He was hit by a pitch, so he gets on for three times.

He has a stolen base.

Oneil Cruz, his batting average, can I say it on here?

Yeah, I think you can.

This is a safe space.

So, as I said, I hope you guys are listening about Mason Montgomery, and he hasn't had an earned run since July 26.

Oneil Cruz's batting average is at .280.

Neil, Oneil Cruz is hitting .280.

.280.

.280.

Oneil Cruz, batting average.

We were robbed.

Like, as cool as a lot of stories have been this year, we've been robbed of a full year of this from Cruz.

from the first game of the season to now, I guess we'll cancel out the first game.

Yeah, we'll wrap first game.

Yeah.

From the second game of the season to when he's played now, just a joy.

Just an absolute joy to watch.

Like, he can hit it the opposite way to get on against lefties.

He can hit the ball further than you've ever seen it go.

He'll make sliding catches.

He'll steal bases like it's nothing.

He's top 15 in baseball and stolen bases, and he hasn't even played half a season, I feel like.

It's 92 games, but a little slightly over half a season.

Like, we deserve a full season of this.

The only reason he's not a 20-20 guy, 30-30 guy at this point, is because he missed two months of baseball.

28 stolen bases, 19 home runs as of right now.

Yeah, just so much fun.

Yeah, I have nothing but good things to say to him.

He is lean forward, in your seat type of guy when he comes up to the plate.

24, sure.

Again.

See what's off of lefty.

See what's off of lefty today.

Well, a few things.

Yeah, as they talk about developing, right?

Oneil Cruz also in that conversation.

And I think the biggest thing with him is, right, is he hits lefties better than righties now.

Like, it's not even like, hey, he is now adequate versus lefties.

It's now not, like, a total weakness that he's a platoon guy.

He can get by, almost like Brandon Lowe.

It's not like the Brandon Lowe thing.

It's like, well, you need to know a lineup.

You're going to bat him there still most days, but, we could maybe give a day off.

He hits lefties better than righties.

He hits lefties better than righties now.

That's insane.

That's how much he, you heard, like, he got an actual person to train with to help him hit lefties in the offseason.

And he now hits them better than righties.

And that's not to say that he can't hit righties by any means.

Again, 280 batting average.

The guy has turned in an outstanding season.

Another person looking into next year.

I can't wait to see what Oneil Cruz has for us in 20, 27.

Probably also going to only play 90 games, but for other reasons.

Yeah.

Rafael Flores, on my back, go ahead.

Go ahead.

No, full finish with Flores.

Go ahead.

Yeah, Rafael Flores also with two hits today.

He went two for three with a walk.

We already mentioned how Brandon Lowe, he had two hits.

But, as far as multiple hits, those are the two guys.

And, again, Rafael Flores also part.

He's looking good at the plate.

Yeah.

Reached base three times.

A double was great.

And I know they did it in Homer today.

But Cruz and Flores are guys who put the ball over the fence.

But I love that they're also able to, like, I think you mentioned Cruz is averaging up to 280.

Flores is slowly learning that he doesn't only have to hit home runs.

Like, he is getting there.

Really good to have to play for him again.

Like, but those guys really deserve their flowers.

The development of Flores has been really cool to see.

There's been a lot of cool stories for such a disappointing team.

But put the ball over the fence.

I want Ben Cherington to watch this game.

And realize how badly he needs Brandon Lowe back.

Because home runs just make the difference.

You got the home runs from Jake Mangum and Ronny Simon today.

Which is crazy.

Like, I think that's Ronny Simon's first career home run.

It was.

Yep.

Yeah.

And Jake Mangum's third.

And today he was given the award, right, the ring.

He was named the Indianapolis Indians player, the MVP.

So, he got, he was presented the ring today, right, for winning that award.

And then he hits his first MLB home run.

So, he was really, Ronny Simon, who's been a nice little fun.

He was so thrilled.

He's been so thrilled going around the plate.

I really enjoyed watching him, like, be so happy going around the plate.

For all, as much as he's grinded, he's earned that.

But, yeah, that's my plea.

Keep Brandon Lowe around.

Keep him around Cruz.

Keep him around Flores.

Keep him around Rettles.

Let's go back next year and hit a ton more home runs again because that is how we stay playoff relevant next year.

I think that's my, that's my conclusion from today.

Keep Bam around.

Keep the home runs around.

I like it.

And I'm glad you said that because that was going to be a little bit of a talking point here, too.

That was the big difference.

Like, you mentioned that the Royals had 13 hits.

It was reminiscent of when the Pirates had one of their best games of the year, last year where they're able to get a bunch of hits, but still only score four runs.

Like, that's why, because you have the inability to put the ball over the fence.

You have games like this where you have 13 hits.

You're always on the base pass, right?

But you're never able to capitalize.

And the Pirates are able to do it today.

They hit three home runs.

They're able to win with a lot less hits and such.

Putting the ball over the fence does matter.

And it does help solve a lot of issues.

And that was demonstrated today.

So, Pirates, of course, as I mentioned, do win five to four.

We want to give away the sandwiches now, Neil?

Yeah, let's give away some sandwiches.

Let everyone know what they got to do.

Drop the hashtag, raise it some dude before they kick me out of here.

I don't want a gym, I don't want a gym to happen.

This ain't Miami, and you're not gym, so I think you're good.

All right, we have just 30 entries today.

I'm going to give you guys another second.

Just 30 entries.

Go ahead and get those hashtag raises in so we can give away some sandwiches.

And as we're doing this, of course, email us, northshore9 at gmail.com.

All letters, no numbers, northshore9 at gmail.com.

Let us know your Primanti Brothers email address that's associated with the app.

If you don't have the app, download it, sign up, send us that email.

That way you can get those sandwiches out to you.

Of course, go ahead and like, go ahead and subscribe, follow along.

We've got a lot of stuff coming up for the offseason as well.

We'll be in the Arizona Fall League next month.

So, yeah, make sure you're tuning in.

All right, rip the 34.

I'm going to hit draw.

You still got some time for the second one here.

God, is no one watching?

35.

You can tell this season's checked out.

Ethan's got some sandwiches coming.

Also, check out Ethan's work.

He does some awesome stuff, and especially the whole CBA talk.

And this offseason coming up, you're going to definitely check out his work because it's very informative stuff.

Ethan, you know how to get a hold of us.

Actually, we got your sandwiches.

Our next winner is Dave.

Dave, HB7LX.

Congratulations, Dave.

But I'm going to assume L.

Congratulations, you two.

Dave, email us.

Northstar9 at gmail.com.

Let us know your email address associated with our Pranted Brothers app.

And we'll get your sandwiches to you as well.

So, congrats to you two for winning.

Congrats to the Pirates for winning.

They are over 500.

Neil, before you get kicked out, any last things you want to say?

Don't.

We have some kind donations.

Let's make sure we get to those people.

You know what?

Doing my bad.

I have to say, my mouse has been jacked on this show, as I told Neil beforehand.

So, I'm not trying to do too much.

Shout out to...

You can see me slowly moving back and forth.

So, I'm like, I don't want to touch anything.

I'm already on the fritz as it is.

Yeah, I don't know what's up with my mouse right now.

But, anyways, shout out to DeanDean409 for the $2 super, he says.

Is Mason Montgomery a top three reliever in baseball?

What a player.

Right now, like, yes.

July 26.

You can argue it, but I think there's a very good argument that you're going to win, that he is a top three right now.

Right now, there's no one better.

There's no one, like, this stretch of time, no one better right now.

None.

Shout out to Jack Jetta, gifted the five NS9 memberships on YouTube.

Appreciate that.

And the new members, welcome.

And then, shout out to Jack for the 10 jewels for saying W.

That's right.

Pirates win, baby.

All right, Neil.

We're going to run this back again tomorrow, aren't we?

Yes, we are.

And I'm going to figure this out.

Sweep.

Sweep.

That's right.

We're going to get a sweep.

We're going to get to 85 wins.

And we're going to bash our heads in when we think about it every year.

Oh, man.

I know.

This wild card.

All three are tied.

Like, you might take 90 wins to the end of the wild card.

89.

Anyways.

We'd be in a wild card place tonight if we were in the AL.

But life isn't fair.

Right.

I don't see any odds right now on FanDuel.

So, I don't know what the deal is right now.

And, obviously, there's no reason to, like, you're not betting on playoffs or divisions or awards.

So, I don't see any odds right now on tomorrow's game on FanDuel.

So, I'll just say check them out later or tomorrow before the game to see what they are.

Again, Pirates can go for the sweep.

And we'll see.

Well, again, we'll be back, Neil and I, on tomorrow's show.

So, we'll see you then.

Other than that, bye-bye.

Have a good night.

All right.

That wraps up this episode of North Shore Nine.

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Bye.