The Pittsburgh Pirates had some struggles against the Miami Marlins.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have finished their first series of the regular season, and there was some good, bad, and a lot of ugly.
The Buccos went 1-3 against the NL East cellar-dwelling Miami Marlins, losing all three games on a walk-off in the ninth inning.
ESPN contributor David Schoenfield pointed out all of the Buccos’ woes from the first weekend of the season.
Paul Skenes was fine on Opening Day, although it came against a weak Marlins lineup and he tired in the sixth inning. That was the good news. Here’s what else happened to Pittsburgh:
Jared Jones began the season on the IL because of a UCL sprain in his right elbow.
With Gonzales’ freak injury, the Pirates will try to win with a double-play combo of Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Adam Frazier.
Oneil Cruz has been a disaster in center field so far, with a couple of big misplays. On Opening Day, he turned a fly ball into a Nick Fortes triple, which led to the winning run. His dropped fly ball Saturday in extra innings led to another Marlins victory. After that miscue, he started Sunday’s game on the bench.
Closer David Bednar, who was 3-8 with a 5.77 ERA last season, already has two losses. Setup man Colin Holderman has two blown saves in three appearances.
The Pirates will have a chance to bounce back with 158 more games on the schedule, but it is certainly not the way the team wanted to start the season off.
BD community, what did you make of Pittsburgh’s opening series? Chime off in the comments section below.