Pirates Series Recap: Pirates Go Through Motions, Swept by Padres
Well, here we are again. Every time we think it can’t get any worse, it does. The Pirates have dropped seven of the last eight games, the team looks like they couldn’t care less, and Bob Nutting, Ben Cherrington, and Derek Shelton have successfully killed baseball in Pittsburgh before schools got out for summer.
I have been an apologist for the Pirates all my life. I have kept faith as best as I could. On Sunday, for the first time this season, I made the 30-minute trip down Route 28 to the North Shore. The excitement was there. I couldn’t wait to be in my favorite place in the world.
The nostalgia wore off quickly, as even I, who couldn’t love watching Pirates anymore, left at the end of the fourth inning because the team I love made me want to be anywhere else but the place I love to be more than anywhere else.
OK, so there is some drama there. I won’t go on a rant like I did after the series in Cincinnati. Let’s dive into what happened this weekend.
FALTER DIDN’T FALTER
Pirate southpaw Bailey Falter pitched seven innings, giving up just two hits. The lone run came off a Manny Machado home run to left field in the seventh inning. Bailey has had two starts that elevated his ERA, but he has been strong for the Pirates as a back-end starter. He has given up three earned runs or fewer in six of his eight starts. He has given up five hits or fewer in exactly half of his starts.
If you remove his starts against the Yankees and the Dodgers, Falter has given up 11 earned runs over 28 innings. That is a 3.53 ERA, which is also elevated by a short four-inning start against his hometown Angels that ended early because of an injury.
While Falter has had trouble with the long ball, as he has given up a home run in five of his last six starts and six home runs overall, the offense not seizing an opportunity and taking advantage of a quality start is exactly what is wrong with this team. But everyone knew that was the case going into the season—that is, everyone except Ben Cherington.
HELLO, ANYONE HOME?
Sunday’s game seemed like one of those days that none of the Pirates wanted to be there, and they were just going through the motions. It started in the first inning, naturally. The Pirates got two quick outs, and Andrew Heaney had a 0-1 count on Manny Machado before he even stepped into the box because of a pitch clock violation. However, it turns out Machado only needed one strike as he hit the first pitch to the left field wall for a double.
That is when the wheels fell off as Xander Bogaerts, whom Padre fans are calling for his head due to only batting .243, which is precisely what Oneil Cruz is hitting, hit a sharp ground ball past Ke’Bryan Hayes for an RBI single. Bogaerts got some home cooking on the road with the official scorer calling that ball a hit. After Gold Glove-winning Jared Triolo lost his eternal clock and let Luis Arraez reach, resulting in three more runs, Hayes got picked off second with two runners on and one out. Hayes is being paid to be a cornerstone of this franchise. Days like today can’t happen.
WALK IT OUT ONEIL
I do have one positive for this week. Cruz is continuing to become a solid leadoff hitter for the Pirates. On Saturday, he walked three times, seeing 24 pitches himself. Cruz has shown his ability to change the game with one swing, but getting on base with his eyes can elevate his game even higher. Cruz’s ability to turn a walk into him being on second base is something the Pirates have needed in my lifetime. Being a thorn in the side like Billy Hamilton was on the PNC Park basepaths for those heated NL Central matchups.
Cruz has walked 24 times in 32 games. He walked just 51 times in 146 games in 2025. Cruz’s emergence has been the best thing about the 2025 campaign for the black and gold. It’s one thing we can hang our hat on while there hasn’t been much of anything else to be interested in.
UP NEXT
Starting tonight, it will be a quick three-game road trip for the Pirates in St. Louis. Will tonight be the final start for Carmen Mlodzinski as a regular in the Pirates rotation? After Hunter Barco was called up to Indianapolis as he set the Curve scoreless inning streak at 26.1 innings, it makes sense that Bubba Chandler is on his way—Mlodzinski currently sports an ERA over six.
Game two will be on a SKENESDAY, as Paul will look to right the ship after looking human against the Cubs, giving up three runs on three solo shots. Looking mortal by giving up three runs? Let’s not take this for granted. Skenes will take his 2.74 ERA against Matthew Liberatorre, who has two wins on the season and a 3.44 ERA with 30 strikeouts.
In game three, it will be a Wednesday matinee as Mitch Keller will face Sonny Gray under the Gateway Arch. Keller is 1-3 with a 4.38 ERA, while Gray is 3-1 with a 4.12 ERA and 39 strikeouts.
In early April, the Pirates took two of three against the Cardinals at PNC Park. Mlodzinski earned his lone win of the season, outdueling Liberatore and giving up one earned run over five innings. Gray took the win in game two over Skenes, as the Pirates' Ace had his worst start of the season, giving up five earned runs. Keller won game three, pitching 7.1 innings of shutout ball.
The weather will be a little different in Missouri than it was in PNC for that series, as the temperature did not reach 40 degrees in two of the three games.
