Hill has been getting by on savvy and the ability to vary speeds during his first six starts with the Pirates, with mixed results. “It wasn't unexpected, it was just ‘This is going to happen, let’s make them make the plays and we (got them out),'" Bassitt said. The Pirates ran into a pair of outs at third and another at home plate when Rodolfo Castro was thrown out while trying to score on a wild pitch in the second inning. Pittsburgh has been one of the most aggressive baserunning teams in the league since the start of the season, and the Blue Jays were prepared for it. Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 10 with a double in the sixth, Pittsburgh's lone extra-base hit. Pittsburgh has mustered just six runs during its current slide, a span in which the Pirates are just 3 for 30 with runners in scoring position. They were swept during a three-game visit to scorching hot Tampa Bay and their offense may be starting to be feeling the long-term effects of missing injured shortstop Oneil Cruz (fractured left leg) and designated hitter/first baseman Ji Man Choi (strained left Achilles).
The surprising Pirates began the day in first place in the NL Central, but have cooled off of late. “And sometimes a change of scenery is a good thing.” “I felt like every day (in Boston) was 40 and raining in a crappy clubhouse and you were kind of doing the same thing over and over, waiting for the same result," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.
Whit Merrifield added two hits and stole three bases for the Blue Jays, who bounced back from a rough visit to Boston in which they gave up 32 runs in a four-game sweep by jumping on Pittsburgh early and riding Bassitt and two relievers the rest of the way. George Springer hit his fourth home run of the season for the Pirates, a two-run shot off Rich Hill (3-3) in the fifth inning.
0 kommentar(er)
