Dude, you gotta be kidding me. The Pirates had a doubleheader sweep in Cleveland locked up, totally in the driver’s seat. But nope. Another blown save resulted in a gut-wrenching 5-3 loss on Saturday night. It’s just brutal to watch.
What Even Happened Out There?!
For a while, it felt like a good night for Pittsburgh. They snagged an early lead in the top of the second when Brandon Lowe hit a sacrifice fly to deep right off Logan Allen, making it 1-0. Then, in the third, Esmerlyn Valdez hit this high popup into shallow right-center. Petey Halpin legit lost the ball in the sun, letting Nick Gonzales score from second. Seriously, in the sun?! They were up 2-0. In the fourth, they kept it rolling, with Jake Mangum hitting a dribbler for an infield single. Catcher Austin Hedges’ throw skipped right off Rhys Hoskins’ glove at first, allowing Lowe to score all the way from second. Three-zip! You’re thinking, “Okay, this is happening.”
The Eighth-Inning Nightmare Was Just the Start
Then the wheels just flew off. It started in the bottom of the eighth. Chase DeLauter got the Guardians on the board with an RBI single off Brandon Eisert. Eisert only got 0.2 innings, giving up three hits and three runs. That’s when Gregory Soto came in, and Brayan Rocchio scored on a wild pitch. A wild pitch, man! Khalil Watson then evened it up with an RBI single. Just like that, 3-3. The Pirates put together a strong relay to try and prevent the winning run in the ninth, but it was all for nothing. Two pitches later, Travis Bazzana crushed a walk-off two-run home run off Dennis Santana, sealing the 5-3 loss. Santana got just 0.1 inning, giving up three hits and two runs. We’re talking 18 blown saves out of 39 opportunities this season. Eighteen! That’s not a fluke, that’s a problem.
Rookie Shines, But Does It Matter?
The silver lining, if you can even call it that, came from rookie Khristian Curtis. The guy delivered the longest scoreless relief outing by a Pirate in his MLB debut since Steve Blass back in ’64. He threw 5.0 innings, gave up just two hits, no runs, and struck out four on 68 pitches. That’s a performance to remember, but man, it gets overshadowed by that walk-off heartbreak. On the other side, Travis Bazzana was a beast for Cleveland, going 2 for 3 with that game-winning homer, two RBIs, and two walks. The rain delay before the game almost felt like a warning, you know?
These two teams are wrapping up their weekend series on Sunday afternoon. Paul Skenes (8-8, 3.57 ERA) is on the mound for Pittsburgh, facing off against Joey Cantillo (8-4, 3.56 ERA) for Cleveland. First pitch is at 1:40 p.m. ET. Let’s hope for a better outcome, because that Saturday night loss is gonna sting for a while.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
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