The Pirates ended the season on a high note yesterday with a 5-3 come-from-behind win over St. Louis at PNC Park. Next comes the building process for the 2023 season.
The Cardinals built a 3-0 lead with two runs in the first inning and another in the third off Pirates starter Johan Oviedo, but the Bucs answered with a one-run third and four more in the bottom of the fourth. Ji Hwan Bae was hit by a pitch and later scored on a Rodolfo Castro single in the third. In the fourth, the Bucs’ Miguel Andujar – who had three hits on the day – tripled into the North Side Notch and then scored on a wild pitch. Oneil Cruz walked and then rounded the bases to score from first on a double by Diego Castillo. After a Jack Suwinski walk and a sacrifice by Jason Delay, Castillo scored on a Bae groundout.
And then Kevin Newman stepped into the batter’s box and drove in the Pirates’ final run of the 2022 season.
The Bucs’ bullpen then got five shutout innings of relief from Junior Fernandez, Manny Bañuelos, Nick Mears, and Yohan Ramirez, who got a line drive double-play ball off the bat of Paul DeJong to end the game.
In addition to Andujar’s three hits, Castillo had two. Fernandez got the win and Ramirez earned his first-ever Pirates’ save.
After the game, manager Derek Shelton said the Pirates have a lot of young, exciting players, some already playing in the big leagues, and some on the way.
Shelton says Oviedo, who arrived in Pittsburgh in a trade-deadline deal with the Cardinals, is going to be a big-time Major Leaguer.
Oviedo threw four innings and gave up three runs, two earned in the game. He finished his season 2-2 with a 3.23 ERA for the Bucs. He likes the makeup of the team heading into ’23.
The Pirates finished with the third worst record in baseball, 62-100, and according to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the owners and the players’ union, the three worst teams have an equal chance at the top overall draft choice next year. The Bucs, A’s, and Nationals all have a 16.5 percent chance of landing the top pick. All 18 non-playoff teams have at least a chance at winning the draft lottery.
