Pirates Win Series Over White Sox; Lose Cruz

Yinzer Crazy Contributor Baron Dionis. Follow him on Twitter @BaronDionis

The Chicago White Sox came to Pittsburgh for a three-game series. The Pirates won the series with wins in game one and three.

Game One:

The Pirates sent out Rich Hill for game one of the three game series against the White Sox. Hill struggled in his first start of the season and that carried into his second start of the season. Hill gave up eight hits, seven runs, and struck out one in four innings of work. His ERA on the season has increased to 10.00. The next arm to come in was Dauri Moreta. Moreta continued his strong start to the season with two scoreless innings and two strikeouts. Wil Crowe shut the door for the Pirates in three innings of work. In those three innings, Crowe gave up four hits, two runs, and struck out four. This was enough for the save. 

Another day, another Bryan Reynolds home run. Not only did Reynolds hit a home run, he finished the day with six RBIs. To start the offense was a solo home run for Carlos Santana in the second inning. Following the homer is a double by Ji-Hwan Bae to score Connor Joe. In the third, Ke’Bryan Hayes hits an RBI double to score Reynolds. The fourth inning is a big one as it starts with an Oneil Cruz RBI bloop single and a three run home run for Bryan Reynolds. This was Reynolds’ fifth homer on the season. Jason Delay hits an RBI single in the fifth inning to help get the bases loaded for Bryan Reynolds who then hits a triple to score all three and with a bad throw, scores himself. Connor Joe finishes the scoring with an RBI double in the eighth. This was enough for the Pirates to win 13-9.

Game Two:

Vince Velasquez is on the mound for game two and things did not go well. Velasquez only made it to the third inning where he was pulled after only throwing two and two-third innings. In that short frame he gave up six hits, five runs, four walks, and only struck out one batter. Chase De Jong entered the game in the third and he managed to throw two and two-third innings. De Jong limited the scoring with only allowing one run. Rob Zastryzny threw an inning and gave up three runs. Zastryzny has been good this season and this was his only bad outing. Duane Underwood Jr followed with his first bad outing of the season giving up two runs and only recording two outs. Jose Hernandez continues to impress with two scoreless innings. Hernandez was the only bright spot in our pitching from game two.

The offense was led by the veterans, Carlos Santana and Andrew McCutchen. Santana had three hits and two RBIs and McCutchen had three hits, two RBIs, and a home run. Rodolfo Castro had two hits, including a double. The Pirates lost 11-5.

Game Three:

The Pirates shut out the White Sox in game three after a stellar outing from Johan Oviedo. Oviedo tossed six and two-third scoreless innings. He also gave up five hits and struck out five. Dauri Moreta finishes off the seventh inning with a strikeout. Colin Holderman comes in the eighth and quickly retires the side with one strikeout. David Bednar comes in and strikes out two batters for his fourth save of the season.

The big news, however, is that Oneil Cruz fractured his ankle in a meeting at home plate with Chicago Catcher Sevy Sevala. Cruz will be out indefinitely.

The offense was quiet as they only tallied two hits. Canaan Smith-Njigba had the big hit yesterday, with a triple and Jack Suwinski hit him in on a sacrifice fly. Luckily, this was enough for the Pirates to win 1-0 and win the series against the White Sox.

Pirates get ready for a three game series against the Houston Astros. Roansy Contreras gets the ball in game one. in an incredibly tough matchup against Framber Valdez.