Considering the complete collapse of their hitting in the first half of May, the Pirates’ last two games should have produced, maybe, negative runs? They faced two legitimate Cy Young candidates in Eduardo Rodriguez and Zac Gallen. Instead, they roughed up Rodriguez and, in the opener of their series against Arizona, they did the same to Gallen. They went on to win, 13-3.
Things got off to a decent enough start. Carlos Santana and Ke’Bryan Hayes both doubled in the second to put the Bucs on the board, a major milestone for most of May.
In the fourth, though, the Bucs broke loose for seven runs. Josh Palacios got the first runs home on a single with runners at second and third. It was his first hit as a Pirate. A couple batters later, Bryan Reynolds picked up his first RBI of May with a bases-loaded walk. Jack Suwinski drove in two more with a double and Hayes plated two with a single. That made it 8-1, all of those runs off Gallen.
It didn’t stop there. In the fifth, Reynolds put an end to another odd streak. With two on, he connected for his sixth home run and first since way, way back on April 7.
During all this, Johan Oviedo wasn’t exactly filling the strike zone, but he wasn’t giving up much, either. A home run by Geraldo Perdomo in the third tied the game for a bit, but Oviedo allowed only one other hit in his six innings. It took him 96 pitches to get that far, with only 55 strikes. Somehow, though, he walked only three and he fanned seven. This may just be who Oviedo is, which as long as it results in a quality start is fine.
Duane Underwood, Jr., followed Oviedo, but didn’t last long. He walked the first two batters he faced, then allowed a two-run double. He retired only one batter and left with a forearm strain, so an IL stint seems nearly certain. It seems to be a requirement with the Pirates that an injured reliever has to have two bad outings before he can go on the IL. (This would’ve been a great spot for Colin Selby, but he just went on the IL. Yerry De Los Santos is having a terrible season and Eli Villalobos is . . . uninteresting.)
The Pirates got those runs back anyway. In the eighth, Hayes doubled again, and Tucupita Marcano, Ji-Hwan Bae and Palacios all singled, bringing in a pair.
Yohan Ramirez got the last two outs in the seventh and three in an uneventful eighth. Colin Holderman finished it out.
The Pirates got 17 hits in all. Andrew McCutchen, Hayes, Bae and Palacios each had three. Reynolds drove in four, and Hayes and Palacios each three.
Milwaukee lost, leaving the Bucs tied for first.
