Jared Triolo had another solid day at the plate and Paul Skenes dominated on the mound as the Pirates completed their weekend sweep of Colorado yesterday at PNC Park. It was the sixteenth shutout by Pirates pitchers this season, the most in the Major Leagues. Joe Block has the recap.
Manager Donnie Kelly is continually amazed at Paul Skenes, who now has the second-lowest ERA (2.02) after fifty Major league starts of any player in the live-ball era, behind only Vida Blue (2.01). (The live-ball era began in 1920.)
Kelly says the Pirates put together all three aspects of the game this weekend against the Rockies.
On The Ben Cherington Show on WCCS yesterday, the Pirates’ general manager said Bubba Chandler’s sparkling debut on Friday night put him in position to possibly get a start at some point before the end of the season. Chandler threw four shutout innings in relief of Braxton Ashcraft, who had already tossed five shutout innings in the 9-0 win.
Cherington said the Pirates will let Chandler settle in at the Major League level, and see where it leads.
Chandler is one of many young pitchers in the Pirates’ stable who will be competing for a spot in the Bucs’ rotation next spring. Cherington is excited to watch it all unfold.
Pirates centerfielder Oneil Cruz will be back with the team in St. Louis tonight after playing two rehab games with Altoona over the weekend. Cruz tripled in the game-winning run on Saturday and was 0-for-2 with two walks, a stolen base, and an RBI in a 8-6 win over Reading yesterday. The Curve stole seven bases in the game. Termarr Johnson and drove in three runs for the Curve, which will be off today and start a six-game series in Harrisburg tomorrow.
