If I had to describe the 2023 season in a few words, it would be “frustrating” and a “missed opportunity”. The words for the 2024 season are “sluggish” with an enough quality performances to make it “disappointing”. Tonight’s game fit that description perfectly.
Hunter Brown pitched better than his stat line tonight, but because of some sloppy defense he gave up more runs than he should have.
Brown wiggled out of trouble in the first inning with a key strikeout.
In the second, Brown allowed a run off a double play with runners on the corners and no out. Up until this point, Brown had not given up a lot of hard contact, so he looked primed to put together another quality start; it was not to be.
Things were going well in the fourth; with two outs and a runner on first, Brown induced a weak dribbler that was to his right. The batter was fast, but Brown’s suboptimal footwork led him to make an errant throw to first base. Not only was the runner safe, but the runner on first came around to score.
Unfortunately, the Pirates took further advantage of the extra out. Jared Triolo lined a double to the outfield to score Connor Joe.
Luckily, Yainer Diaz responded in the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot to bring the score to 3 to 1.
After another sloppy defensive play in the fifth, it looked like Brown would fall apart. However, he got out of the inning by inducing weak contact and some swing and misses.
In the sixth, Brown looked ready to finish off the night with a quality start. He got through the first two batters with ease and he had Jared Triolo in an 0-2 count. Things turned around quickly. After walking Triolo, Brown surrendered a monster shot to Michael A. Taylor. Taylor may have only had two home runs going into last night’s game, but he’s looked like a power hitter against Houston. Score Bucs 5, Astros 1.
This put the game out of reach, both teams scored another run but the outcome was never in doubt. The Houston offense got nine hits, a walk, and another reach via an error, but they only took five at-bats with runners in scoring position and no of those attempts were successful.
Final score: Pirates 6, Astros 2.
Thoughts/observations:
-Winning games is hard when you give up three errors. Sloppy baseball is bad baseball.
-The Astros have played really well the past two months, they were due for a bad week. The problem is that they did not allow themselves wiggle room.
-Hunter Brown pitched well, but sloppy defense in key moments can ruin a good night. Still, he has turned his season around over the past two months and there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about young Hunter’s prospects.