For the Pittsburgh Pirates and 17 other MLB clubs, the planning for the 2023 season officially begins.
The Pirates at least decided to go off on a high note using a four run fourth to win their final game of the season and finish 62-100.
Johan Oviedo took the mound against the St. Louis Cardinals for his second consecutive start against his former club. It didn’t start off well, with the first two hitters squaring up a couple fastballs for a quick 1-0 lead. After a strike out, Corey Dickerson line a ball to Diego Castillo at first that he couldn’t handle. That allowed the runner on second base to score and give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead in the first.
In the Cardinals’ half of the third inning, they strung together a double, followed by a RBI single to make it 3-0. Oviedo would end up pitching four innings on 61 pitches with three runs against, two of them earned. He showed better control with 40 of his 61 pitches going for strikes, but he also gave up five hits while collecting only a single strike out.
Just before Oviedo left the game, the Pirates offense got a run of their own in the bottom of the third. Ji-Hwan Bae was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a ground out, and then came home on a Rodolfo Castro single.
The Pirates then added on in the fourth inning after Oviedo had left the game. Miguel “Wheels” Andújar lead off the inning with a triple to left-center, and would score on a wild pitch. Oneil Cruz walked on nine pitches, and came around to score on a Diego Castillo double to center to tie the game. After another walk and sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third, Bae hit a soft ground ball to 1B scoring Castillo to take a 4-3 lead. They pushed across one more run on a Kevin Newman RBI single making it 5-3.
Neither bullpen would allow a run the rest of the game for a final score of 5-3. Junior Fernandez, Manny Banuelos, Nick Mears, and Yohan Ramirez combined for five shutout innings allowing three hits to four strike outs.
Andújar finished on a high note going 3-for-4 in the game with a triple. Castillo capped off his season going 2-for-4 with two doubles and a RBI.
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I’d like to now take a moment to say thank you first and foremost to Tim Williams for allowing me the opportunity to ramble on this site that I’ve come to really appreciate and be a part of.
I want to say thank you to the readers and commenters for coming back on a daily basis to join in on the conversation with your thoughts and opinions. For welcoming me to this stage that is a completely new venture for me.
It’s not easy coming back day in and day out when you know from the onset that Buctober baseball isn’t in the cards (Though, technically it IS October).
But again, I really do appreciate everyone and the community we’ve built. I don’t remember the exact date, but it’s right around a decade since I first stumbled upon Pirates Prospects. I can’t say that I was initially as dedicated to the game of baseball as I have become through this site.
So, here’s to hopefully a strong off-season for the Pirates that gives us some hope and optimism for 2023.
