Pirates Are Doing What it is Pirates Do Best

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates just capped off a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers with a rubber-match win on Thursday afternoon.

With the win, the Pirates improved to 18-8 on the season and have been playing well in multiple facets of the game.

In the series against the Dodgers, the Pirates’ offense combined for 21 games over the course of the three games. In the final two games of the series, Pirates’ pitchers limited Los Angeles to only three runs.

One thing above all the the Pirates have been doing well, especially against the Dodgers, is on the basepaths.

What does a Pirate do best? No, not a Pirates from Pittsburgh, but an actual Pirate? They steal.

Well, it turns out those Pirates from Pittsburgh are pretty good at stealing too. Against the Dodgers, the Pirates stole 12 bases in 13 attempts and at one point were a perfect 12 of 12 when trying to take a base.

“To watch those guys run, you just always feel like there’s movement… chaos, right? Trying to create pressure on the other pitcher and catcher, and you can feel it, this series especially. You could feel the other team getting frustrated. I feel like every time there was someone on base there was someone in scoring position,” Connor Joe said.

With a dozen steals in the three-game series, the club tied their third-most in a three-game set in the Modern Era (since 1901) and their most since also swiping 12 bags from Aug. 19-21, 1977 vs. San Francisco.

The pressure the Pirates put on the Dodgers was a key reason as to why Pittsburgh was able to take the series and improve to 10 games over .500 for the first time since 2015.

The Pirates currently lead the major leagues with 37 steals, one of only two teams with at least 30 and six more than the Cleveland Guardians who have 31 as a team. Ji Hwan Bae leads the way with 10.

“When we’re on the basepaths, we’re creating chaos out there and it’s fun to watch. The second we lay a bunt down or we’re stealing, it’s just all hell broke loose out there. It’s really fun to watch,” starting pitcher Mitch Keller said.

As a pitcher, Keller is aware of the pressure that a dangerous team on the bases can put on the guy on the mound.

The Pirates are acting like actual Pirates when it comes to what they are doing on the bases. If they keep this up, who knows what else they might end up stealing this season.