◆NEWSPirates Notes: Keller, Pitching Pursuits, Lineup◆ROSTERSigned free agent RHP Enmanuel Nunez to a minor league contract◆STATPaul Skenes ranks 4th in the NL in strikeouts (200)◆STATNick Gonzales ranks 4th in the NL in batting average (.303)
◆NEWSPirates Notes: Keller, Pitching Pursuits, Lineup◆ROSTERSigned free agent RHP Enmanuel Nunez to a minor league contract◆STATPaul Skenes ranks 4th in the NL in strikeouts (200)◆STATNick Gonzales ranks 4th in the NL in batting average (.303)
The Pirates drop a close game to the AAA squad Giants Wednesday night by the score of 5-4. Despite numerous chances before extras to score, the Pirates managed to get the game to extras where they lost in 10. Bubba Chandler was average, the offense made you want to stop watching the sport forever, and Camilo Doval finally showed weakness in a Pirates jersey. The Pirates continue to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and slip further and further out of the playoff race. Watch Jim and I break the game down in detail here:
To ask dominant performances out of your rookie pitcher to pull the squad back into a playoff race is tough. However, the Pirates need exactly that from the former top 10 prospect. Chandler was pitching just fine through his first 4 innings of work. Giving up a home run to Rafael Devers is fairly normal, and he was doing a good job limiting the production from the rest of the Giants lineup. Then the 5th inning came around and Bubba somewhat unraveled. After loading up the bases he proceeded to allow 2 runs to cross the plate and giving the Giants a 3-1 lead at half time. Chandler needs to be doing better against bad lineups like what the Giants are currently trotting out. He is too talented to let these games get away from him and the Pirates need him if any playoff push is happening in September.
This Team Loves to Waste Chances
Despite Bubba’s struggles, this game really shouldn’t have been close. While it is admirable to see this team grind their way back into a game while down 2 runs, they should’ve finished this game off early instead of playing with their food. Before Oneil Cruz‘s infield single to tie the game at 3, the Pirates were 0-8 with RISP. They also wasted a golden chance to win the game in the 9th with a runner on 2nd and no one out. This team continues to make you want to pull your hair out with how they come through with runners on. It was awful to watch because they had every opportunity in the world to get this game done without stress and they were unable to do so. My bed time keeps getting ruined by this offense and its genetic inability to hit in the clutch.
Manfred Ball Sucks
Does anyone enjoy watching extra innings baseball anymore? What used to be a tense battle of the bullpens is now just a straight up crapshoot over who can move runners over slightly better. The viewing experience is miserable, boring, and stale because the games play out the exact same. You have the same strategies over and over and it never feels good even if you do win. When you lose, it feels like you got cheated and when you win it feels like you got handed something you didn’t deserve. Please get rid of this garbage ghost runner immediately it doesn’t belong in my beautiful sport.
Comments· 1
The Debate
Should Don Kelly have let Carmen Mlodzinski pitch the 10th instead of going to Camilo Doval?
N0tchMomAll-Star· 70d ago
I hate extras now as well, especially ghost runner. All it takes is a sac bunt and a sac fly (or worse yet a balk, whatever that is anymore) to score.
With Neil Lucas and Jim Rosati.
Chapters
Key takeaways
1
The Triolo-Cruz-Valdez miscommunication on Devers' fifth-inning pop-up turned an out into two runs, and this Pirates team isn't good enough to survive mistakes like that.
2
Bunting Triolo with two on and nobody out while down 3-1 in the seventh gave away an out. Jacob Gonzalez should have pinch-hit and swung for a three-run homer.
3
The Pirates should stick with Esmerlyn Valdez despite a .461 OPS over the last week. He still has an .867 OPS, so moving him down the order was the right fix, not benching him.
4
Carmen Mlodzinski should have pitched the 10th after nine up, nine down. As a reliever he's held hitters to .169 the second time through the order, and Montgomery and Weaver were unavailable anyway.
5
The Manfred runner makes extra innings garbage. A win feels unearned and a loss feels like getting cheated.
What's up, everyone? Welcome to the North Shore Nine Podcast presented by FanDuel. This is the NS9 postgame show powered by Primanti Brothers. I'm Jim. With me is Neil. Neil, the Pirates, they tried to come back in this one. They forced extra innings. They got down. They got down in the middle innings there, forced extra innings, but were not able to keep the Giants at the Pirates.
Bay in the 10th. They lose 5-4. Needed a win there, Neil. Needed a win.
You did, and this game should have ended before nine innings. The Pirates had so many chances to put more than three runs on the board tonight. I think they were 0 for 8 with our score position before Oneil Cruz's infield single.
That was the only hit with extra with runners scoring position they got in the nine innings. It's unacceptable. Like, I'm tired. As we were saying, I'm tired of watching this offense because I feel like it's just been like that for the past month where they keep getting on base and then they just they can't knock anybody in.
Yeah, they were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position before, extra innings happened and you get the free runner on second base.
So, yeah, plenty of chances and they had, they've had, they had a bunch of games like this too on their road trip, right? they ended up taking that series against San Diego.
They took the series against St. Louis, but in that LA series, they just could not get the job done with chance after chance after chance and tonight was a lot of the same, they loaded the bases.
They put themselves in really good spots. they, at one point they, when they did score their first run of the game in the fourth, they got one run across, but like you need more than that in this, in this situation here and they weren't able to do it.
But yeah, let's dive into this one. I want to start just, I feel like we can get to the beginning of the game later just because there wasn't a whole lot that happened the first few innings here, but this game really picked up when the teams went to, went to their bullpens.
the pirates were down three to one, each pitcher went five innings, row Landon Roop went five innings, Bubba Chandler went five innings.
let's actually start in the fifth, Neil, because bubble was rolling here.
And, I think this team just isn't good enough to make mistakes, right?
And this fifth inning was just proof of that.
there was a leadoff double, but then Chandler gets the runner out on a fielder's choice, walks a runner to put runners on first and second.
Devers singles, to extend the inning, but it was a pop-up like Devers pops this ball up first and second.
Triolo's going back on it.
Cruz is coming in on it.
Valdez is coming in on it.
And it looked like just none of them saw the ball, Neil, and what should have been the second out of the inning ends up being a base hit to lead the, to load the bases and then a sacrifice five, which would have ended the inning at one.
Now it's two, one, you give up another hit, it's three, one, we all go down as earned runs for Bubba Chandler.
But like, you just, you're not good enough to not make these plays.
And I don't know what the situation was like, right?
I wasn't standing in the outfield.
I wasn't looking up there, but like, I don't know, Neil, you gotta, you gotta make the catch.
You guys gotta figure out a way to make the catch.
You do like it again, just inexcusable, like your seasons on the line, like you're fighting for your life.
And this is how you give up the two runs that give them the dines, a three, one lead.
And yet with a struggling offense, like it's so typical, it is so typical of this team to just, again, like they can't get out of their own way.
They can't stop shooting themselves in the foot.
And this is just another example of that.
Like it wasn't a hard play to make.
Now I also do think Chandler has to be better.
I, you can't get into that situation against this Giants lineup where, I don't know.
I just feel like he's better than that.
Like giving up that single after the sack fly.
Like I also feel like he, we need Bubba Chandler to be better.
Unfortunately, it's probably not fair to put that on the rookie pitcher, but I also do expect the, a former top 10 prospect to step it up and get out of that jam.
No, maybe giving up, you can't be giving up two out RBI singles to former Washington wild things.
Yeah.
Yep.
Like, plain and simple, right?
Like you can't allow that to happen.
and this Giants lineup outside of Devers and Eldridge is, it's a joke really.
and, Lee as well.
So like there's, there are three major leaguers in this Giants lineup probably for, if you want to count Logan Gilbert fringy guy, but like this lineup is not good and you can't
let Turner Hill beat you.
They, last night, last night, they couldn't get Turner Hill out tonight.
Turner Hill ends up making a great play in the outfield.
He ends up getting this RBI single two outs in the fifth.
And, yeah, it ends up being very costly.
a couple of super chats.
I want to get to AO appreciate the four 99 here.
Can anyone explain why Kelly goes to Doval over Mason with Devers and Eldridge, both do up in the 10th.
This guy is just an awful manager.
I will say this Mason Montgomery was probably not available today.
He's pitched three out of the last four games.
Luke Weaver's also pitched three out of the last four days.
That's just, once you do that, you're just a no-go territory in today's major league baseball.
So I don't think either of those guys were available.
but we'll get to that.
Michael B shout out.
Thanks for the 10 bucks.
He says, Jim, I know you always want to be positive.
I don't always want to be positive.
I want to be positive after wins tonight's not a day to be positive.
but he said this team stinks and you got a manager who doesn't know what he's doing, but Jensky three perfect innings, let him pitch the 10th.
They do nothing right.
Valdez boo.
I agree with you about Jensky.
I'm actually going to talk about that.
Silas TV, another $5.
Appreciate you.
Another winnable game.
Just given away to a team that has nothing to play for and a roster full of no names.
Even if we take the series, it's a disappointment.
yeah, I think whenever you were looking at the schedule and you're trying to figure out a way that this team can win, 18 out of their last 25 games or whatever it
is, like you got to, you pretty much needed to sweep the loading giants and not winning this game is definitely not good for the already very slim playoff pods.
yeah, like I know we, a couple of weeks ago, we're saying you just got to win two out of three.
We're past that point.
It's got to be sweeping.
It's got to be win streaks.
you had the Padres lose today, like just got to win this game.
There's no reason that you're letting the giants come to the PNC park and win tonight.
yeah.
And it was a whole comedy of errors.
The pitching was subpar.
The hitting was awful.
The defense was bad.
The bullpen was bad.
Like, and we still had every chance to win.
It's bothers me.
Like I'm, I try not to let the team affect my mood just because I feel like there's no point, but watching that game was awful.
Well, it was awful just because this offense, like you've seen it just, it's so hot and cold.
It's so frustrating because we've seen this offense just be really good.
And overall, the numbers of this offense are really good, like over the course of the season, but this giants bullpen and granted the pirates scored three runs off of the giants bullpen.
And so like, they did get to them, but they just, they left a lot on the table there.
because yeah, like you go down three to one, you give up those two runs in the fifth that you should not have given up.
Then you get a chance in the sixth with a Brandon Lowe lead off double.
And that's your two hitter, right?
You've got three, four, five now do up in a two run game against a bad bullpen and you got to win, right?
I think he's, had a, had an outstanding rookie season, but strikes out looking there and strikes out looking a couple of times today in big spots, not his best game.
He's just, he's going through it right now.
Yeah.
yeah, you can't look at those pitches that he's looking at and I know he's a rookie and I know clearly he's being found out a little bit, probably time to take him out of the middle of the lineup, which they have like, right.
They dropped them from fourth to sixth, right?
So like he is, he is farther down in the lineup now.
but yeah, he was up in a couple of big spots today and just didn't do anything with them.
It's hard to blame him specifically cause he walked the entire team.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So sorry.
I didn't mean to interrupt, but like, yeah, like it's hard to blame him specifically when the entire team was bad.
Like I know Gonzalez had the hit in extra innings, but like up until then, I felt like he was up in multiple situations and couldn't drive runs in allow was struggling to do what Reynolds did.
And Reynolds was also really close in that ninth inning.
And we were also what two separate balls hit to right center field that were inches away from going over the fence and didn't go over the fence.
Yeah.
Gonzalez and Reynolds, both with doubles off the fence.
Yeah.
It's just, it's exhausting.
no, Esmerlyn Valdez, get back on track as I go to God, Esmerlyn Valdez is really struggling.
I love the patient approach, but he doesn't have the contact ability to be watching pitches in the zone like that.
It's a bad mix of high swift rates and looking at pitches right down the middle.
And I, it happened multiple times tonight.
Yeah.
He's got a four 61 OPS just in his lap in the last week or so striking out a whole lot.
today he struck out and he was over four with three strikeouts today.
I said, he did get the walk.
It was a bases loaded walk.
So he did technically drive in a run with that.
but yeah, he's going through it right now.
And again, he's young.
He got called up originally, got punched in the mouth.
Then he came back up, punched back, and now he's getting punched again.
So it's just this back and forth game where he's just going to have to figure out the adjustments.
you gotta, I think you gotta stick with them.
I don't think you can take the bat out of the lineup because at the end of the day, he's still got an eight 67 OPS.
I think you still have to play them.
and yeah, I think they did the right thing and moving him down in the order.
I don't know how much farther down you can move him.
but he's just, he's just going through it right now, Neil.
And it's frustrating because we've seen what he can do when he's on.
but when he's not on, he's extremely off.
Yeah.
And it's really the limit of the three true outcomes people, right?
Where it's not like he's going to knock in a sack fly or maybe like cheat a single.
Usually it's pretty much walk, like a really great walk, like in that.
He got to drive the run in for sure.
Yeah.
but yeah, you don't want him up with runners in scoring position right now, just cause he's not even going to advance to the runner.
He's just going to strike out and it's not great.
No, it's not.
pirates do finally get on the board there.
I said the sixth inning, they leave, Brandon Lowe and Cruz stranded, in the seventh though, Flores walks to lead off Jake Mangum, infield single.
So he's got, first and second, and this is where I want to talk about it.
You're down now three to one.
And, I was mentioning it in the discord while the game was going on, but Jared Triello is up first and second, nobody out.
You sacrifice button with Jared Triello.
It was a good sack, but move the runners over.
But like at this point, Neil, you need two runs to extend this game.
You need three runs to win it.
You have nine outs left.
And I know that like old school thinking is like, get those two runs over to scoring position, a base hit ties the game, right?
I just, I hate giving up outs that late in the game when you're losing.
What I would have done there is what they did in the ninth, right?
I would have pinch hit Jacob Gonzalez right then and there for Triello.
And I would have let him swing away.
And I would have been playing for the three run Homer is what I, is what I'm doing.
They stick with Triello instead.
He bunts, he gets it down successfully.
And then Horwitz and Brandon Lowe go over to a ground out scores a run to make it three to two there.
But I don't know.
I want your thoughts there.
The pirates win probability.
Like if you look at the math, the pirates win probability with the bunt dropped by 1.6%.
So it wasn't exactly like this huge swinging play by any means.
But I just, I hate just completely giving up the out there because there's also no guarantee the bunt's going to go down.
Like you gotta also imagine like sacrifice bunts aren't successful all the time.
Sorry, you're just willingly giving up and out for a chance to be successful at a sacrifice bunt.
And especially with Spencer Horwitz hasn't been hitting for a month now.
And he didn't hit then.
So what's your, what are your thoughts on that move?
I have zero issues with it.
First of all, I would not go to Jacob Gonzalez because Jacob Gonzalez has been terrible.
Like, let's not like, I'm sorry.
Like he's, I understand he's been that he's batting a sub 200.
If anything, Durant Fiola has been a better hitter on this team since Jacob Gonzalez has shown up.
So I would not go.
I also have no problem with the sacrifice of bunt because, I think I understand he gave it away outs, but I also think that when the team has already struggled to manufacture hits, like you're basically asking Horwitz.
And Brandon Lowe to come up and get back to back hits after you've already got two runners on, which I think with this current offense is probably a pretty steep ask to begin with.
So I don't really mind, like, cause you have to assume, okay, yeah, so maybe Horwitz, he's been bad for sure.
Maybe he gets out or like only gets a sack fly, but then I have Brandon Lowe coming up and you probably try to trust Brandon Lowe to get a hit in that situation.
I have no issue getting the runner over, get two runners or a single ties the game and you turn it over to the top of your lineup.
I think that just makes more sense than say, letting Jared Triola swing away or let Jacob Gonzalez swing away.
Because I feel like, I don't know, like, do you really trust either of those guys more than Horwitz or Brandon Lowe to knock a runner in?
That's not the question, right?
Like that's the question is also like, you got to trust Triola to get the bunt down and like, everything's got to go right.
And it's not a matter of like who I trust more.
It's a matter of, I just don't like giving up the out.
I don't like giving up the out.
And also Jake, Jacob Gonzalez did eventually pinch hit Neil and he doubled off the wall.
So, if that would have happened in the seventh, we'd have a tie game, right?
but you can't really, yeah, my grandmother had the wheels should be, but, no, I don't know how you, I don't know how you can depend on Jacob Gonzalez in that situation when he hasn't been hitting for weeks.
I'm not depending on anybody in this situation because nobody can hit the ball in a high leverage situation in any, at any point in time, it seems like.
Well, there's that route.
Yeah.
I hear you.
Of course, of course, Neil's defending the managerial decision as it's tradition.
That's what you pay me for.
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So, all right, Neil.
so the pirates get a run there in the seventh eighth inning comes along.
Bryan Reynolds leadoff double Cruz, Gonzalez gets him over to short Cruz with the infield single to tie the ball game.
he's been so good since being activated.
I just can't say enough good things about Oneil Cruz.
there he's teams are clearly scared of him.
They're pitching around him in key situations.
I'm actually surprised they pitched to him there in the eighth, to be honest with you.
and he made him pay with a hundred mile an hour ground ball that, with the drawn in infield and got the base hit out of it.
but the next batter Esmerlyn Valdez, this is where I also have a problem.
Just this at bat, because this is a perfect steel situation.
And Neil, I guess now it's tied.
You just tied the ball game up.
It's the bottom of the eighth.
You've got a, an elite base dealer.
I would actually go to say he's a top three base dealer in major league baseball right now.
Esmerlyn Valdez grounds out on the first pitch swinging gets jammed on a sinker inside, just off the plate grounds out, doesn't even give Cruz the opportunity to get the second, doesn't
give him the opportunity to get into scoring position.
He does eventually steal third, but Flores strikes out to end the inning.
Just, I just can't get over the, just the mistakes.
Like this team just does too many stupid things.
They're not good enough to play as stupid as they do.
And I'm not saying like, as again, Esmerlyn Valdez is a rookie, like maybe he's got to learn this, but I don't know if you're the coaches, like, are you telling Valdez, Hey, like maybe give Cruz a pitch or two to see if he can get the second, unless
you see something just dead red, which this pitch was not, I don't know.
It's, it seemed like that was the opportunity where you had to steal second and Valdez didn't even give him the chance.
Yeah.
I would have tried to hold off.
Like me, it looks like you're trying to do some like hit and run thing, which I don't quite, but I don't think they even did that.
no, let Cruz steal bases.
It's the easiest thing in the world.
Like let him get around the bases, take it.
it was funny because Valdez loves taking pitches.
He loves.
Yeah.
And so it was just very uncharacteristic of him, if anything else, just to be in that situation.
So he, I know that pitch wasn't all that great, but he really must've seen something he loved.
Cause this is probably the most patient hitter on the team swing first pitch.
Yeah.
I said he got jammed little dribbler to the third baseman and then, Flores isn't able to come through there.
the best we've seen him look, since they've reinserted him back into the rotation.
Apparently he's not in the rotation anymore.
they're going with a bullpen game tomorrow.
but I thought Mlodzinski looked great, gave the pirates a chance to come back in this game, and bridged everything to that bottom of the ninth inning.
Yeah.
probably the best we've seen him in months, like a literal months, like, glad that he's not starting anymore.
It really, it is crazy just how different he pitches versus starting.
And coming out of the bullpen, which should probably set something off in his brain.
Like maybe this is where I belong, but, no, really well done.
I know it's going to be a shock.
I don't hate not letting him go fourth inning because I think we all know what happens when Carmen Mlodzinski goes more than three innings, but I also do understand why people are frustrated about that situation.
Yeah.
So let's so let's get to that because well, one, the pirates have a chance in the bottom of the ninth, Jacob Gonzalez with the, with the one out double, Horwitz once again, can't come through intentionally walks, Brandon Lowe, Bryan Reynolds
with a laser to left field.
And again, freaking Washington wild thing.
Taylor Ward makes a sliding catch to save the game and force extra innings.
And then the pirates go to Camilo Doval.
So Mlodzinski's coming off three perfect innings, nine up, nine down.
You go to Doval.
You're saying you don't have an issue with that.
I probably would have left Carmen in just because of how good he did look.
And with the way that this bullpen, was, you had Montgomery unavailable, you had Weaver unavailable, now Doval is going to be unavailable tomorrow, by the way.
But I would have, I would have absolutely gone one more inning with Mlodzinski.
And I know it was like the top of the order, but we've spent this whole entire show talking about just how terrible this Giants lineup is.
Like, I'm not concerned with Carmen Mlodzinski going up there and facing Samuel Basabe for the first time, by the way, because he came into the game late.
Now Devers is a different story, but they walked him anyways.
And then all ultimately Bryce Eldridge does the damage with a, with an RBI double that gives the Giants a four, three lead sacrifice fly makes it five to three.
And, two runs was just too much for the pirates to overcome.
Yeah.
I can understand.
I go into Deval just because the left handedness of the lineup that was coming.
I'm not, right.
I'm pretty sure they're dying to the bunch of lefties coming up, if I'm not mistaken.
but, I don't know.
It was like, I understand how he looked.
I understand his pitch count.
I don't trust him at all.
Second time through the order.
And he's done nothing to show us that he should be trusted a second time through the order.
And I think it's just one of those tough calls you have to make when you were trying to win with the season on the line.
like just based off the body of work, if you're managing there and you know that like a loss, like losses really sink you.
Are you trusting Carmen Mlodzinski of fourth inning with your season on the line?
I'm not.
I'd rather gamble on the guy with the sub one 50 ERA who is, since he's been here, it has been nails for us.
And that's what they did.
And it didn't work.
It didn't work.
I'm just, didn't work.
Yeah.
And I, again, I would have left Mlodzinski in.
That's what I would have done.
I understand the move because yeah, you look at Carmen Mlodzinski's numbers a second time through the order.
362 batting average, 489 slugging percentage.
It doesn't look good.
now that's as a starter.
Excuse me.
I had to sneeze there as a starter, as a reliever.
The second time through the order though, Neil 169 batting average to 46 slugging percentage.
So there's something about coming out of the bullpen.
Mlodzinski.
It's like, it's like when Mlodzinski comes out of the bullpen, he's a completely different guy.
but I said, I would have kept them in Don Kelly did not.
I wouldn't have been a triolo in the seventh.
Don Kelly did.
there were a couple of things I disagreed with him on.
and again, didn't, it just didn't work out.
Didn't work out.
the 10th inning, the pirates do get a run.
Nick Gonzales finally delivers, with a runner in scoring position, the second hit of the day for the pirates with a runner in scoring position.
so, he brings out home the run and the pirates just aren't able to do anything after that crew strikeout, Valdez strikeout, Flores line out.
they lose five, four.
Yeah.
here's my question.
Does anyone enjoy Manfred ball?
Does anyone enjoy watching this garbage?
Cause like extra innings baseball absolutely sucks.
And I know losing doesn't help, but like, does anyone enjoy this?
It's terrible.
It's just who can get the runner over for a sack fly easier.
And maybe you look into an extra base hit, but like the product is garbage.
It's the exact same thing over and over and over again, you put the infield in when there's a runner on third, you, a lot of sacrifice bunts over, like you oftentimes have pitchers
giving up runs without giving up a single hit.
Like, do you enjoy watching this?
Cause I don't, I think it's so stupid.
I'll say this.
it certainly adds love, like more leverage right off the bat.
So yes and no, I guess like the baseball purist in me is like, and this isn't real baseball, but it makes it exciting.
Like it is exciting.
Starting in with a runner on second is immediately excited.
It's like, that is, that is immediately a high leverage clutch moment where like, you need to execute, you need to execute defensively.
You need to execute offensively.
You need to execute on the mound, like wherever the situation is, you got to execute.
And I guess it's, for me, it's one of those things where, but like both teams have to deal with it.
So like, you just got to figure out a way to make it happen.
but it's not, it's not because the pirates lost, but it's not because the pirates lost that I hate it.
Yeah, no, I get where you're coming from.
I just, I thought I would hate it all more and I find it not any less enjoyable than I would have before.
So you go, I feel like whenever you lose, you feel like you got cheated.
Cause there's a runner on second and when you win it cheapens the win in my opinion, like a walk-off single because there's already a runner on second doesn't feel good, but it doesn't feel earned.
And so, and, obviously, like I said, the pirates should have won this game in regular innings.
Like this should have been finished at nine innings.
They had plenty of chances to do it.
And so it's losing in that fashion.
It feels terrible and it's not fun to watch and I'm glad you enjoy it, but I'm going to so many extra games.
I've been stewing on this.
I enjoy it equally.
I enjoy it equally.
I have, I have no less or more enjoyment because of it.
That's just me.
a couple other super chats I want to get to before we wrap things up here.
Silas, thanks for the two bucks says this season has me ready for a lockout.
We need a break.
Yeah, we're almost there.
We're almost there.
Michael B two bucks.
Thank you.
it says Neil Dovall is a 5.86 ERA and extras bad sub.
So he's a different man on the pirates.
He is.
He has been a different guy.
That's his Yankee stuff.
It's like asking us to use Yankees Santana in 2024.
So that was a little, just out of the ordinary for him.
He did get four strikeouts.
I thought, I thought it was a decent start.
And again, like he should have just given up the one run.
If that, if that pop-up get caught, it's just one run given up.
but I thought he looked okay today.
Not great, not bad.
Just an okay start.
You'd have liked to see him just go out there and dominate this giants lineup.
He didn't do that.
really his one mistake was, Devers, Homer, which he's been punishing everything lately.
Yeah.
Like giving up the Homer to Devers wasn't a problem.
but again, I, strike more people out.
Like we, you really needed some strikeouts in that fifth inning.
And that's the stuff that could have been useful.
Yep.
You have the stuff to do it.
You're he, even with that misplay, he's too good to be given up three runs in five innings of this Dodger Dodgers Giants lineup.
He's too good.
And it's so frustrating.
He, every single time he comes close to like that breakthrough, he takes a step back.
And I think tonight was the same thing there after four innings.
well, Neil, after today pirates are 68 and 72, they dropped back to four games under 500, from a wildcard standpoint, if you're even still looking at that, which I know a
lot of people are for some reason, I would, I would direct you to just not pay attention to that for a few days, but pirates are five and a half back of the diamond backs who snuck into the third wildcard position today.
and pirates have won five of their last 10.
So they're just floating around 500 right now.
they're just running out of time.
They're running out of time to just be treading water.
Like they are, their playoff odds going into today.
I think we're two and a half percent.
I'm sure they're, back below two after this loss, fan duel tomorrow, we've got a bullpen game.
Lake Bachar is going to be starting, as the opener, pirates are heavy favorites minus one 52 on fan duel tomorrow.
So, we're getting into the territory now though.
We're just, you, if there is a chance to win a game, you can't, you can't lose it.
You just can't like they, we were doing the math here.
Like if you want to somehow win, 85 games and have just a prayer, a prayer, you've got to go 17 and 17 and six tough ask that's winning.
That's winning more than two out of three.
And that's still, I don't know if that even gets it done.
it is, it is brutal.
Cause if they win today, they're at four and a half games out.
And like, you can squint and see a possibility making up five and a half with only what, like 20, I don't know, less than 30 games.
There are 23 games remaining, I believe.
Yeah.
That's a, that's a hard ask.
22 games left.
It's a rough ask.
Yeah.
And they got to win 17 of those 22 to get to 85.
Which may not be enough.
Which may not be enough.
Right.
Anyways, I'd say like at this point, just win as many games as you can make this as exciting as you can play good baseball down the stretch here.
See what happens.
I said, I'm not, I'm not too worried about the post season at this point.
I don't think it's, I don't think it's happening.
but just win as many games as you can keep us keep like just a little bit of hope alive.
Like make the, don't let those playoff odds get down to zero.
They're going to lose two or three to the angels and then sweep the white socks and take two or three from the Cubs.
I'm just, it's going to happen.
It's going to be the stupidest timeline, but yeah.
Yeah.
they just simply, they're just not winning enough games.
Plain and simple.
So, but I appreciate everybody who joined us tonight, everybody who's watching or listening after the fact, you guys are awesome.
We'll be back tomorrow.
We got a day game again, pirates, bullpen game tomorrow, against the giants, 1235 start time.
so we'll be back with that.
We'll also have NS nine live tomorrow, and a new episode of offbeat tomorrow.
So triple header for North shore nine tomorrow.
Yep.
I'm disappointed.
I'm sad and I wish I never believed in this team on that note.
We'll see you tomorrow guys.
All right.
That wraps up this episode of North shore nine.
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Comments· 1
Should Don Kelly have let Carmen Mlodzinski pitch the 10th instead of going to Camilo Doval?