Morning Rundown: Pirates clinch series against Braves with win on Saturday
Pirates have won first two against Braves.
The Pittsburgh Pirates took the second of three games against the Atlanta Braves this weekend, backed by another strong outing by Mitch Keller.
With the win, Keller is now 4-0 in May. He allowed one run on 6.2 innings pitched, allowing six hits while striking out four batters. Of his 88 pitches, 62 went for strikes.
Colin Holderman came in to get the last out of the seventh and pitched the eighth before David Bednar closed things out to get his 11th save of the season.
Jared Triolo and Nick Gonzales both hit doubles. Bryan Reynolds picked up a pair of singles and drove in a run.
They will go for the sweep on Sunday, with Martin Perez facing off against Chris Sale for the Braves.
Khristian Curtis pitched a career-high five innings on Saturday, allowing just a lone run while striking out nine batters.
The nine strikeouts were also a career-high for the Pirates’ 12th-round pick out of Arizona State.
Despite the four walks, he still had the good stuff going, picking up 13 whiffs (48% whiff rate) and 22 called strikes.
The walks have been an issue, along with the long ball, but there has been no denying the stuff, and the fastball has been playing a lot better up in the zone as well.
A mini-site update, with the Pirates off on Monday as well, there will be no feature for Memorial Day.
Enjoy your holiday, and thank you to all those who have served.
The 10 observations will slide back to Tuesday, and I’ll have the ‘This Week in Bradenton’ on Wednesday.
FCL Pirates activated RHP Kevison Hernandez from the 7-day injured list
Pittsburgh Pirates sent C Jason Delay on a rehab assignment to Bradenton Marauders
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Top Exit Velocity
Bryan Reynolds - PIT - 106.2 mph - Single
Bryan Reynolds - PIT - 105.2 mph - Single
Andrew McCutchen - PIT - 105 mph - Flyout
Ji-Hwan Bae - PIT - 103.9 mph - Lineout
Matt Gorski - IND - 103.2 mph - Home Run
Top Pitch Velocity
Colin Holderman - PIT - 99 mph
David Bednar - PIT - 98.6 mph
David Bednar - PIT - 98.4 mph
David Bednar - PIT - 98.4 mph
David Bednar - PIT - 98.3 mph
Most Whiffs
Mitch Keller - PIT - 15
Khristian Curtis - BRD - 13
Wilber Dotel - GBO - 12
Braxton Ashcraft - ALT - 10
Domingo German - IND - 9
Indianapolis Indians - 5 vs Iowa Cubs - 6
Top Hitter - Jake Lamb: 2-4, 2 RBI
Top Pitcher - Ben Heller: 0.2 IP, 2 H, K
Altoona Curve - 4 vs Erie SeaWolves - 3
Top Hitter - Sammy Siani: 3-5, 2 RBI, 2B
Top Pitcher - Braxton Ashcraft: 5.1 IP, 5 H, ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 2 vs Greensville Drive - 3
Top Hitter - Charles McAdoo: 3-4, R, 2B, SB
Top Pitcher - Wilber Dotel: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Bradenton Marauders - 3 vs Dunedin Blue Jays - 6
Top Hitter - Esmerlyn Valdez: 2-3, BB
Top Pitcher - Khristian Curtis: 5 IP, 2 H, ER, 4 BB, 9 K
FCL Pirates - 8 vs FCL Orioles - 3
Top Hitter - Yordany De Los Santos: 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 SB, 3 R
Top Pitcher - Greiber Mendez: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 4 K, SV
Hate to be defeatist, but I’ll take two out of three from the Braves with no Skenes or Jones.
Saturday, May 25
25 down. 56 to go.
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Pirates win 4-1 over the Braves dancing between the raindrops with strong pitching.
They stand in 4th place, one half game behind the streaking Cardinals in 3rd and six games back of the Brewers. The Pirates are 6-4 over their last ten games and beginning to gel.
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CARROTS ON THE HOUSE!!!
@> Nick the Stick for his 1 for 2 day with a run, an rbi, a walk and a k… not to mention a stolen base.
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@>@> J. Bae (and not Jason!) for HIS 1 for 2 day with a run, rbi and a walk… not to mention HIS stolen base and a superb flat out dive in center field… +speed Bae-by!
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@>@>@> Pitch Keller for 6.2 innings strong, allowing 6 hits and one run, walking none and striking out four.
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Fresh heads of lettuce to the Bullpen who DID NOT FOLD!
We welcome Bae for the first time to the Carrot Leader Board with his performance yesterday!
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“Singin’ in da bath-tub!!! La-te-do-te-too!”
-Wabbit