JACK JACK! Jack Suwinski Walks it Off Against the Giants in 4-3 Victory

JACK SUWINSKI DID IT AGAIN!!! After David Bednar blew a save in the top of the ninth, Suwinski came to the plate in the bottom of the inning looking to walk it off with his third home run of the game.

Mr. Suwinski indeed flexed his muscle yet again and walked it off against the Giants with his 11th home run of the year off Taylor Rodgers. Suwinski now joins Andrew McCutchen as the only Pirate rookie with three home runs in one game. The Pirates beat the Giants 4-3 and avoided the sweep.

If you had told a Pirate fan that Mitch Keller would have an ERA below five in June, they would probably be extremely happy. Keller indeed dropped his season ERA below five after his start on Sunday, which stands at 4.72; not amazing, but it’s encouraging.

Keller’s start on Sunday may have started off rocky in the first inning due to an error and some bad bounces, but overall he was shoving the rest of the way. At one point, Keller retired ten Giants in a row using a good pitch mix-up to keep the hitters off-balance.

Keller’s final line read six innings pitched, three hits, two runs (one earned), three walks, and four strikeouts, with 92 pitches thrown (around 58% strike rate). As a side note, Keller used his sinker 37% of the time on Sunday and averaged 2322 RPMs. 

Joc Pederson singled up the middle, scoring Luis Gonzalez and Mike Yastrzemski in the top of the first. The Giants led 2-0.

Hoy Park mashed his first home run of the year for the Pirates and cut the Giants’ lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the third.

Jack Suwinski belted his ninth home run to deep right field, knotting the game up at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Suwinski belted his tenth home run of the season, giving the Pirates a 3-2 lead.

Thairo Estrada played spoiler and hit a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth against David Bednar. The Pirates and Giants were tied at three. 

Takeaways

JACK-JACK!- Despite having a less than average batting average, Suwinski has been flexing his muscle for the Pirates this season. Including Suwinski in NL Rookie of the Year talks is not out of the question.

Mitch Shoved- Since Keller started using his sinker/two-seamer, he seems like a completely different pitcher. Keller may not be the super mega All-Star fans have hoped for, but he can be very useful.