Ladies and gentlemen, your Pittsburgh Pirates did it. They scored runs AND won the game.
Much different from the 1-0 slogfest they pulled out yesterday vs Colorado, the Pirates strung together some legitimate offense for the first time in way, way too long en route to a 5-3 win over the Rockies.
Bailey Falter was on the mound for the Pirates today, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits in 5.1 innings pitched. It wasn’t his worst outing, but it was clear he needed some run support if Pittsburgh was going to win today.
All of those runs came in the second inning, fueled back by to back home runs to give the Rockies a 3-0 lead.
Amidst this recent stretch of poor offense, that felt like an almost insurmountable deficit to claw back from, but in a rare showing by the Bucs today, they found their bats and pulled it out.
And it came from some players we have desperately needed to see something from. Oneil Cruz, though it is far too early to write him off, has had a very slow start to the season. He had a 2-run homer in the series opener that brought the Pirates within one, but he had a monster game today.
He nearly at a home run on this hit, which ended up in a double and led to an eventual first run for the team.
Falter was able to limit the damage on the other end, and locked down the Rockies offense after that second inning. Luis Ortiz came in after Falter was lifted and kept the game at 3-1, which allowed for the Pirates’ explosion of offense in the bottom of the sixth to end with the lead.
Connor Joe kicked things off with a single, followed by a Bryan Reynolds double that put two runners in scoring position. Successful batting with runners in scoring position has been a particular challenge for the Bucs, but Ke’Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz was determined to change that.
Hayes had a successful sacrifice groundout to get Joe home, but the real dagger came from Cruz.
After his near-home run previously in the game, Cruz left no doubt about this one, clearing the deck for a cannonball and giving the Pirates a 4-3 lead.
Home runs are always great, but this one felt different. It felt more important, like a weight had been lifted off of this team. It felt like one of those season-altering moments that can lift the Pirates out of this terrible spiral they’ve been stuck in.
The dugout celebration also felt bigger than usual. They’ve felt the frustration, they’ve heard the boos, and regardless of whether the organization relates to them, the players themselves are tired of losing.
Endy Rodriguez, who has become the affectionate cheerleader for this team while he misses all of 2024 with injury, had the best reaction of them all.
But aside from Cruz, the Pirates as a team found success at the plate. Even Rowdy Tellez got in on the action, hitting a near-home run himself.
Tellez spent a little too much time admiring that ball, and it almost cost him at second base. To his credit, however, he did beat out a throw at home to top off the 4-run inning for the Bucs.
It was the best result for the Pirates on offense since a 7-5 loss on April 25th, but it was just their second 5+ run outing since April 12th. This bad stretch was especially concerning considering the Pirates had averaged 5.9 runs per game in their first ten games.
But this game felt like a momentum-shifter. It just felt different. It felt like all of the frustration over the last few weeks evaporated as soon as Cruz’s hit left the ballpark.
This game needs to be the catalyst for some future success at the plate for Pittsburgh. I know I know, it’s a marathon and not a sprint, but if the Pirates can put any weight behind the claim that they will truly be competitive this year, they can’t afford to fall too much further behind in this race.
Now over a full month into the season, this awful skid needs to be chopped down as soon as possible. We saw it last year, when the Pirates suffered both a six-game and four-game streak in May, in the midst of an 8-18 slide that they never recovered from.
Here’s to hoping we look back in a few months to this moment as a turning point for this team.
(Featured photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
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