Heading into the Pittsburgh Pirates’ first matchup against the Chicago Cubs, one distinctive advantage they had over their divisional rivals was their bullpen. With two All-Stars returning from a year ago, as well as a few high upside, hard throwing arms, the Pirates bullpen was set to be one of the best in the majors again this year.
After the first three games of their four game set with the Cubs, it was anything but a strength for the Pirates and as a result found themselves down two games to one heading into the afternoon finale on Thursday.
Pittsburgh Pirates Bullpen Redeems Itself In Series Split
The opening game of the set saw the relievers combine to allow four runs (three earned) over three innings of duty. Each of the three pitchers allowed two hits apiece, as Arquimedes Caminero was credited with his first loss of the season after allowing three runs (two earned) in a single inning of relief.
Antonio Bastardo gave up a run of his own the final inning before Rob Scahill came in and was able to finish an inning without a reliever giving up a run.
Game two saw the bullpen squander an 8-5 lead before finally losing the game by a score of 9-8. After starter Francisco Lirano only pitched five innings, the Pirates needed four innings of work from their relievers to seal the victory.
In those four innings, the Pirates allowed nine hits, six runs (five earned) and two home runs. The Cubs took Radhames Liz and Tony Watson deep before getting to Mark Melancon for three runs in the ninth to take the lead. The Pirates would go quietly in the bottom of the ninth to round out the game.
The third game, which saw the Pirates won, fared better with a rough outing by Jared Hughes the lone blemish by the unit. Hughes failed to get an out in the eighth inning, allowing three hits, a walk and two earned runs.
That forced Watson to come in and record a two out save, after pitching an inning the night before.
So heading into the fourth and final game, the bullpen had been tagged for ten earned runs over ten innings (8.71 ERA), and had allowed 19 hits in that span. Watson and Schaill were the only two pitchers to throw in relief not to allow a run but with the lefty throwing three innings in two nights – he would be unavailable for Thursday’s matinee.
With a chance to come away with a big series split, as well as even their record on the season, the Pirates received a huge boost out of their bullpen after Jeff Locke struggled in five innings worth of work.
Down 4-1 heading into the sixth inning, Liz, Caminero and Melancon combined to throw four innings of one-hit baseball – while striking out five collective batters to no walks.
The Pirates scratch and crawl themselves to the win, eventually taking the game on a seventh inning RBI single from Gregory Polanco – who collected three hits on the day.
In a long baseball season, ups and downs are expected not only from month to month but from game-to-game – as evident in this one. But to bounce back from three ugly games the way the Pirates’ bullpen did, especially for someone like Melancon who has struggled the majority of the early season, is big heading forward.
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