Pirates Analysis
Perrotto: Pirates’ Pitching Brings Ray of Light Into PNC Park
PITTSBURGH – Well, this came out of the blue.
The Pittsburgh Pirates entered their six-game homestand that ended Wednesday with a 32-50 record. There wasn’t any reason to think they would have success in a pair of three-game series against the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals, two contending teams.
Yet the Pirates went 6-0.
Not only were they perfect, but their dominance of the Mets and Cardinals was historic. The Pirates became the first team in MLB history to score at least 43 runs and allow fewer than four runs in a six-game span.
The 43 runs were completely unexpected, considering the Pirates were last in the major league in runs scored when the homestand began.
However, not to be overlooked was the pitching. The Pirates staff shut down two good lineups.
The Pirates held the Mets, who are 15th in the big leagues in runs scored, to four runs. Then the Pirates shut out the Cardinals, 11th in MLB in runs scored, in all three games.
Let’s put this in historical context.
The Pirates threw three consecutive shutouts for the first time since June 14-16, 2015, which was the last season in which they qualified for the postseason.
The Pirates five-hit the Philadelphia Phillies in the first game in 11 innings. A.J. Burnett pitched nine innings, then Jared Hughes and Antonio Bastardo worked one inning apiece.
The other two shutouts were against the Chicago White Sox. Francisco Liriano went eight innings, and Rob Scahill worked the ninth in a two-hitter, then Charlie Morton, Tony Watson, and Mark Melancon combined on a four-hitter.
The last time the Pirates had three shutouts in a series of at least three games was on Oct. 2-3, 1976, in a season-ending three-game set with the Cardinals at Three Rivers Stadium.
John Candelaria pitched a five-hitter on Oct. 2. The Pirates then swept a doubleheader on Oct. 3 as Jim Rooker scattered seven hits in the opener and Jerry Reuss threw a five-hitter in the nightcap.
Starting pitchers used to work all nine innings back then. Alas, that is a different subject for another day.
On Wednesday, Mitch Keller pitched seven innings and gave up five hits in the 5-0 victory. He won his second consecutive start after going 15 straight starts without one.
Dennis Santana and Isaac Mattson finished the six-hitter with one inning each.
So, how did the Pirates pitchers pull off a homestand for the ages? Keller said preparation was the key.
“It’s just a testament to how hard we’re working and the scouting that we’re going through,” Keller said. “We’re through these hitters. We got a really good plan. (Catchers Henry Davis and Joey Bart) have been just rocks back there, man. We lean on those guys. They’re doing their homework.
“We just have a really good plan going in, which I think gives confidence to everybody when they know what the plan is, and when we execute it, it works.”
What the homestand means in the context of a 162-game season remains to be seen.
The Pirates are still in last place in the National League Central, 14 games behind the division-leading Chicago Cubs. The Pirates are also nine games back in the wild-card standings.
It’s going to take more than six games to even think about contending.
However, these last six days were entertaining for the fans. They gave hope that the Pirates could salvage something from 2025 after starting the season 12-26 before firing manager Derek Shelton and promoting bench coach Don Kelly to take his place on May 9.
Entertainment and hope. There hasn’t been much of either around PNC Park over the last 10 years.
It was a nice change of pace, at the very least.
If “preparation was the key” then we can expect to see more of the same? I would suggest execution had a lot to do with it.