If anyone had a final four consisting of Alabama and North Carolina State in their bracket, go and purchase a lottery ticket. It was quite enjoyable to see the two blue bloods from the ACC—Duke and UNC—crash and burn against perceived inferior opposition. It was even better to see Kyle Filipowski whine like a little baby when things took a turn for the worse.
Anyways, as much as I enjoy watching spoiled programs fail in the NCAA tournament, today’s entry will be the first that focuses on baseball. The Pittsburgh Pirates are 4-0 to begin the 2024 season after sweeping the Miami Marlins in a four-game series, and no one is quite sure how to behave.
It started poorly enough, which is to be expected as a fan of the Pirates. Mitch Keller got shelled as the opening day starter, giving up five runs (four of which were earned) on seven hits and two walks in 5.2 innings, striking out a mere three batters. He exited the game with a 5-2 deficit, with a Bryan Reynolds 2-run homer initially tying the game at 2 before Keller allowed three more runs.
In the top of the 7th, Edward Olivares hit a home run in his first at-bat in black and yellow, trimming the Marlins’ lead to 2. Andrew McCutchen would reduce the lead to 1 later in the inning, grounding out with the bases loaded. The next inning, O’Neil Cruz hit a solo shot to tie the game at 5.
There was not a lot that happened in the 9th, 10th, and 11th innings. In the top of the 12th, though, Jared Triolo drove in the go-ahead run, as Ke’Bryan Hayes scored on the second baseman’s single. Jose Hernandez would pitch a 1-2-3 bottom of the 12th for his first career save.
The next day, the Pirates won handily. Martin Pérez only pitched 4.1 innings, but he gave up a mere one run. Meanwhile, Marlins’ pitcher A.J. Puk gave up 4 runs in two innings (with six walks), with those two innings being all that the Pirates needed from an offensive standpoint to cruise to a 7-2 victory.
Fast forward to Saturday, when 22 year old Pirates prospect Jared Jones made his MLB debut as the starting pitcher. His stat line was impressive—5.2 innings pitched, three hits allowed, three earned runs (one of which was let in by Ryan Borucki immediately after entering from the bullpen), two walks, and TEN (!!!) strikeouts.
Yesterday, it appeared as though the Pirates’ quest for a 162-0 season would end, as Bailey Falter allowed five runs in the first inning and another in the 4th, exiting after that 4th inning with the Bucs trailing 6-4 (Alika Williams’ 2-run triple, Bryan Reynolds’ RBI single, and Ke’Bryan Hayes’ RBI single accounted for the four Pirates’ runs). When the top of the 7th inning came along, the complexion of the game changed dramatically. Hayes walked to lead off the inning, followed immediately by an Olivares single. With 2 runners on base and no one out, Jack Suwinski flew out to center, and Jared Triolo struck out. With 2 on and now 2 outs, first baseman Rowdy Tellez hammered a 3-run bomb to center field, a tape measure shot of 425 feet, giving the Pirates a 7-6 lead.
Aroldis Chapman did his job to preserve the lead in the 8th inning, getting Bryan De La Cruz to fly out before striking out Jazz Chisholm and Tim Anderson in consecutive at-bats. It was all set up for all-star closer David Bednar to tuck the Marlins in. Alas, he gave up a one-out solo homer in the bottom of the 9th to Nick Gordon, leading to extra innings for the second time in the series. The Pirates had an intriguing approach in the top of the 10th, with Jason Delay laying down a bunt with a runner on third and no one out. The suicide squeeze was successful, scoring the go-ahead run to make it 8-7. Later in the inning, Michael A. Taylor was walked with the bases loaded, providing the entering Hunter Stratton with a much-needed insurance run. Stratton gave up a leadoff hit in the bottom of the 10th, but retired the next three batters in order to complete the sweep.
It is very possible that the Marlins are an incredibly bad baseball club. Nevertheless, it is still quite impressive to sweep a four-game series against anyone, especially when you are the Pirates. It was not just that they won all four games, either. It was that they found different ways to win, whether they had to come from behind or were staked to a huge lead early. Early experience with different game scenarios is crucial to being able to win games later in the season.
I told myself that I would not get carried away, regardless of how the season started for the Buccos. Just one year ago, they started 20-8 and missed the playoffs. These are the Pittsburgh Pirates we are discussing, after all. However, I find it difficult to not be even cautiously optimistic. They have three games against a Nationals team who were expected to be one of the worst in Major League Baseball before a Friday home opener against last year’s best AL team, the Baltimore Orioles. Last year’s first overall pick, Paul Skenes, tossed three perfect innings in triple-A Indianapolis on Saturday, showing that he may be ready to slot into the Pirates’ pitching rotation sooner, rather than later. This would increase my already-overblown expectations, which currently sit at not being eliminated from playoff contention until September at worst.
I know that I am setting myself up for disappointment. There has only been one season during my 23 years on earth during which I was not disappointed (the season where they actually advanced past the wild-card round). However, my brain does not seem to realize that this is the same team that has caused the city of Pittsburgh so much pain and heartbreak over the past 30+ years. I cannot help being hopeful, but it is the hope that makes everything worse when shit hits the fan. Hope kills you when you are a fan of one of the worst organizations in professional sports. I may never learn my lesson with the Pirates, but I do know that, by July, I will be writing about how we need to sell before the trade deadline.
Maybe I am just looking for something positive in the wake of the disappointing seasons from the Penguins and Steelers. Maybe there is actually a reason to be hopeful. However, until I physically see the Pirates make the playoffs again, I will expect to be kicked in the stomach year-in and year-out.
We will see where the next couple of weeks takes the team. If they crash and burn, please remind me next year to expect the worst. There is hell, and then there is Pirates fandom.