The post All-Star Break nightmare continues for Pittsburgh as they drop yet another game to the Detroit Tigers 8-5. Despite a push in the 6th that sent Framber Valdez packing, the offense couldn’t muster up enough of a fight to offset Carmen Mlodzinski and Yohan Ramirez‘s performances. The Pirates also squandered many offensive opportunities, going 2-11 with RISP and leaving 7 runners stranded. The Bucs remain 6.5 games out of a wild card spot and will need to take the next 2 games versus Detroit to stay within the conversation. Watch Dinardo and I break the game down in further detail here:
The Pirates Remain Talented and Untimely
Yohan Ramirez has been consistently great for the Pirates throughout the majority of the season. His last 2 months before being placed on the Paternity List saw him running sub 2 ERAs for that stretch of time. He was downright terrible in his return Monday, with an inability to throw strikes consistently and officially put the game out of reach. Despite being excellent, Yohan has continued the trend of not performing when the team desperately needed to pull out a win. The offense is in the same boat tonight, as they got plenty of runners on and couldn’t convert their chances. They scored 5 runs yet only went 2-11 with RISP tonight. Walking out of the 7th inning with no runs scored officially put the game to bed. Despite showing lots of promise, this team can never put all the pieces together, and it continues to be infuriating.
Henry Davis is Helping Move the Challenge Needle
The Pirates have been notoriously awful at challenging pitches this season. Punting Marcell Ozuna to the curb has helped this in some regard, but they still aren’t great at the system. Henry Davis became a man possessed tonight and was elite defensively on all ends. The pitchers should go buy him some beer because he managed to save the Pirates several runs with his timely challenges. The biggest one came in the top of the 8th, which allowed Gregory Soto to escape his inning unscathed despite giving up 2 hits. The Pirates have missed Henry Davis being a magician defensively this season, and tonight it could’ve helped them win if Carmen Mlodzinski didn’t blow up early. With some offensive production slowly coming along, Henry could end up being a very productive player going into next season.
Carmen Mlodzinski Is Not a Starter
I have spent more time and words talking about how Carmen Mlodiznski should not be allowed to start games for this team. I am not going to waste any more, it is not worth anyone’s time. He has a 5.80 ERA as a starter and can’t even go beyond 3 innings now. End the facade and get him back in the bullpen or off the team. He is blowing up any slim chance the Pirates have to make the playoffs because of a bruised ego.
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