Takeaways: Bucs win another series, down Orioles!

The Pittsburgh Pirates continued their hot streak to the season by taking the series against the Baltimore Orioles. They were able to secure a series win with two walk-offs in games two and three. Baron and Tyler will go over their takeaways from this series win.

Hot Hitters

Oneil Cruz is on fire to start the season and he continued his great start in the series against the Orioles. One of his big hits this series was a walkoff single in game two. He also hit his second home run of the season and had six total hits in three games. On the season, Cruz has a batting average of .333 with two home runs and four runs batted in. He also has an OPS of .864, which includes an on-base percentage of .364 and a slugging percentage of .500.

Rowdy Tellez also is off to a great start to the season as the Pirates first baseman. He has been impressive defensively and has had a solid bat for the Pirates. In game two of the series against the Orioles, Tellez accounted for three hits and a run batted in. This brings his batting average up to .269 with a home run and six runs batted in. He also has an OPS of .772, which includes an on-base percentage of .387 and a slugging percentage of .385.

Welcome to Pittsburgh Joey Bart

Pirates recently acquired catcher Joey Bart from the Giants after he was designated for assignment. Over the weekend, Bart made his debut with the Pirates and impressed us all. He caught the gem thrown by Bailey Falter and had a great offensive day. Bart had two hits, which included a two run homer and a double. A solid debut for the former second overall pick.

Best Performance

The best performance of the weekend came from the most unlikely player on the Pirates, SP Bailey Falter. After having a rough outing in Miami, Falter turned it around in dominant fashion against one of the deepest lineups in all of baseball, the Baltimore Orioles. Falter was very selective with all of his pitches, which allowed him to limit hard contact and induce a lot of soft fly outs. Falter was flirting with a no-hitter until a weak pop up where Suwinski and Williams had some miscommunication which led to a bloop double. Following that, Falter shut down the Orioles to have the best performance of the weekend going 6.0IP, 1H, 1BB, and 1K. 

Coming into this series, scrapping together one win would’ve been a positive for this Pirates ballclub. A lot of people were awaiting a potential series where Baltimore would have their way with the Pirates following the Miami and Washington road trip to begin the season. However, the Pirates led by Oneil Cruz, Rowdy Tellez, and Bailey Falter propelled the Pirates to their third straight series victory defeating the Orioles two games to one. The Pirates look to extend their hot season Monday evening when the Tigers come into PNC Park. The Pirates will prepare to face Reese Olson Monday evening then Casey Mize Tuesday afternoon. The Pirates will have their top two pitchers in Mitch Keller and Martin Perez to defend home turf.