The Pirates finished their six-game gauntlet with a 1-5 record against the Braves and Dodgers, the two best teams in Major League Baseball. That has them at 35-34, sitting on the outside of the National League Wild Card race with a surging Marlins team, winners of five straight, coming to town.
But there still doesn't seem to be much panic in the clubhouse. There are obvious areas that need drastic change. MitchKeller knows he needs to be better after giving up five runs over four innings in the Pirates' 8-6 loss to the Dodgers here tonight at PNC Park, and the bullpen continues to be a source of concern. But there were some encouraging signs, too, including the offensive performances and the resilience over the last two nights.
"They’re good teams, and I think that we’re a good team," DonKelly said. "I know it sucks when we go 1-5 in those games. When you look back at the Braves series, 6-3, 6-3 and 3-2, we had chances. Didn’t come up with the big hit. First game of this series was not good. That seventh inning killed us. But outside of that seventh inning, we were right there toe-to-toe with the Dodgers. We continued to fight back, continued to grind. Doing it without two of our best players. It just speaks to the toughness of the team, how we continue to battle. The lineup, continuing to go one through nine. Really not giving at-bats away. If we continue to do that through the remainder of the season, we’ll be in a really good spot."
"The record doesn't reflect how good I think we've played in certain scenarios," BrandonLowe said. "Obviously, the Dodgers are a legit team and our offense put up some pretty good numbers off of them but it just kind of goes to show that, you watch their at-bats and how they go about the game, you watch the way they pitch, the way their bullpen goes, the way they play defense, and you hope guys in here just learn. Obviously, they're tops in the league for a reason and obviously the score didn't go the way that we wanted it to, but there's still a bunch of things to learn and a lot of baseball left.”
THE ASYLUM
Only one win secured in a six-game gauntlet
The Pirates finished their six-game gauntlet with a 1-5 record against the Braves and Dodgers, the two best teams in Major League Baseball. That has them at 35-34, sitting on the outside of the National League Wild Card race with a surging Marlins team, winners of five straight, coming to town.
But there still doesn't seem to be much panic in the clubhouse. There are obvious areas that need drastic change. Mitch Keller knows he needs to be better after giving up five runs over four innings in the Pirates' 8-6 loss to the Dodgers here tonight at PNC Park, and the bullpen continues to be a source of concern. But there were some encouraging signs, too, including the offensive performances and the resilience over the last two nights.
"They’re good teams, and I think that we’re a good team," Don Kelly said. "I know it sucks when we go 1-5 in those games. When you look back at the Braves series, 6-3, 6-3 and 3-2, we had chances. Didn’t come up with the big hit. First game of this series was not good. That seventh inning killed us. But outside of that seventh inning, we were right there toe-to-toe with the Dodgers. We continued to fight back, continued to grind. Doing it without two of our best players. It just speaks to the toughness of the team, how we continue to battle. The lineup, continuing to go one through nine. Really not giving at-bats away. If we continue to do that through the remainder of the season, we’ll be in a really good spot."
"The record doesn't reflect how good I think we've played in certain scenarios," Brandon Lowe said. "Obviously, the Dodgers are a legit team and our offense put up some pretty good numbers off of them but it just kind of goes to show that, you watch their at-bats and how they go about the game, you watch the way they pitch, the way their bullpen goes, the way they play defense, and you hope guys in here just learn. Obviously, they're tops in the league for a reason and obviously the score didn't go the way that we wanted it to, but there's still a bunch of things to learn and a lot of baseball left.”
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