The Pirates broke out and snapped a five-game losing streak Friday night by slugging four home runs and Mitch Keller providing a steady seven innings as the Bucs defeat the Reds 9-1. Bryan Reynolds, Marcell Ozuna and Henry Davis (twice) all homered in this one and Keller allowed just one run and three hits over seven innings of work. Jim and Tyler broke this one down on the NS9 Postgame Show Powered by Primanti’s Bros that you can watch or listen to below:
Here’s my three takeaways from this refreshing victory…
Playing the Reds is a Lot Better than Playing the Cardinals
It doesn’t make much sense considering the Reds are in first place at 20-12, but the Pirates have the Reds number apparently while the Cardinals have the Pirates number. With Friday night’s 9-1 win over Cincinnati, the Pirates are now 3-1 against the Reds so far this season. This game was a breath of fresh air after losing four straight at home to the Cardinals. I wasn’t sure how to take the last series if it was a sign that things were taking a turn for this team or if you just chalk it up to the Cards have our number. Well this win certainly helped as the Pirates got back into the win column and did so in an emphatic way. They set the tone for this series early and kept coming at the Reds. Let’s hope they can keep this up for the rest of the series.
The Power Showed Up and in Rarely Found Places
The bats came to play in this one as they racked up 12 hits and belted four home runs on route to a blowout win. The power didn’t just come from the usual suspects though, it came from players that fans were starting to worry about. Folks were worrying if Bryan Reynolds game was slipping a bit, boom he homers right off the bat first inning dead center off the batter’s eye and later triples. Ozuna had one of the worst months of April in Pirates history and people were wondering how much of a leash he had, boom he homered. And Henry Davis has been struggling at the plate and he slugs not one, but two home runs in this one for a 2-for-3 game, 3 RBIs and raised his SLG from a flat .200 to .309. I’ve said this before, but if Davis could just hit .250 with 12-15 home runs, I think we’d all take that from the catching position especially with his defense and game calling skills.
And it wasn’t just all power for the Bucs in this one, Ryan O’Hearn had a couple singles and an RBI, Konnor Griffin had a hit and RBI and Nick Gonzales finished with three singles and is now hitting .333 with a .385 OBP. That’ll play folks, that’ll play. On a cold day in early May, the Pirates bats were red hot down the lineup.
FIRST HALF MITCH STELLAR
It can’t be stated enough—I’m so glad this team did not trade Mitch Keller this past offseason. He proved once again Friday why he’s this rotation’s vet and stopper. Even when Paul Skenes had a bad outing and couldn’t be the stopper on Thursday, Mitch takes his turn and answers the call. He shut down the Reds through seven innings of one-run ball. He struck out six, allowed just three hits and one walk and made sure the Pirates got back into the win column. Don Kelly even kept him out there to get through six and then seven innings with the game out of reach, and I loved every second of it as Keller finished with 104 pitches. That’s where he should be near every start especially if he’s dealing. Let Mitch pitch. He not only saved your bullpen who was severely needing a light game, but he got the team back in the win column after a losing streak. He’s your horse and he showed why Friday.
Keller lowered his ERA to 2.85 with this performance and just think if he can figure it out and show more consistently in the second half and put it all together. That would be a huge lift to this team and would be one key to helping this team fight for a postseason berth come September.
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