Pirates Sweep Double Header with Mets

[Crimson's Ghost]

The Pirates welcomed back old friend Neil Walker to town, and promptly swept his team 3-1 both games. The Mets have quite the pitching staff, but a pretty lackluster offense.  They simply have trouble scoring overall, and it shows. They are 14th out of 15 in the NL in batting average, and individually they don't have any regular that hits above .280.  They are basically the polar opposites of the Pirates, who are a very strong hitting team, but can't really pitch this season. Dating back to last season, the Pirates have won all 8 meetings with the Mets, for whatever that's worth. 

-- Have to love how Neise pitched today against his former team. 7 innings, 2 strikeouts, 0 runs.  He dropped his ERA under 4 for the first time in a while and now has a solid 6-2 record.  He's been very good after a rocky April and is turning into a dependable member of this pitching staff. 

-- In game 2, I'm thinking...wow this might be it for Nicasio in the rotation, but he did everything he could to make a case to stick.  He threw 5 innings, 1 run, and showed off his stuff with 7 strikeouts.  I still think he heads to the bullpen, but more on that later. 

-- Nefatli Feliz worked double duty tonight and preserved the lead in both games.  He did allow a solo homer in the first outing, but followed that up with a 3 strikeout inning in Game 2.  He's been a huge part of this bullpen. 

-- Jared Hughes came on in the 6th and did his job by getting some ground balls and put up a 0.  Watson returned to his normal self with a scoreless 7th in game 2. 

-- Melancon recorded two saves today, thus probably meaning he won't be available tomorrow. He has 19 saves on the season now, which is best in the majors. 

-- Cervelli returned (thankfully) as he hasn't played since Thursday. He was 0-3 with a walk.  He's been slumping at the plate, but a slumping Cervelli is probably better than a surging Chris Stewart. 

-- Stewart caught the second game and went 2-4. He's been adequate this season, and handles the pitchers well. My guess Cervelli will get the start Wednesday, BUT Hurdle would trust Stewart with Taillon as well. 

-- Freese was 2-4 in game one at first base, and made a nice defensive stop as well. It's a nice luxury to have him play first against lefties, and stack the lineup with him and Kang. 

-- Jaso had a big RBI double in Game 2, after starting 0-2 with 2 K's. He adjusted and came up big. 

-- Harrison was 3-5 today in Game 1, and I was glad to see him have a good game when Walker was in town.  Harrison is essentially his replacement, and he's having a great season to this point. 

-- The Pirates forced Figueroa to start in game 2, and he was 0-4.  I'm skeptical of him overall. Just doesn't look like a major league hitter. 

-- Kang was 2-3 in game one and came up with a pinch hit walk in game 2. He's batting .298 and is already second on the team in homers this season, he is so good.  What a steal signing him was. 

-- Sean Rodriguez was 2-4 playing third base in game 2. He had an early double that helped get the Pirates that early lead. Great to have such a strong bench for days like this. 

-- Marte left the game early with some sort of discomfort. Hopefully it's nothing major, the Pirates can't afford to lose him for any extended time.

-- McCutchen was 2-4 in Game 1, and 0-4 in Game 2.  He's batting .250 right now.  Hopefully he can turn it on soon. 

-- Polanco was a combined 1-8 today. Going against Matz in game 1 was tough, as he is one of the best lefties in the game right now.  

-- Joyce 0-4 with 4 K's. Uncharacteristic for him this season. 

So yes, the Pirates won 2 today, and the Cubs lost.  That's all great stuff, but let's be real, we're all excited the most about Jameson Taillon getting the call to the big leagues to pitch tomorrow.  Noah Syndergaard vs. Jameson Taillon tomorrow night at PNC Park.  That's just an exciting story line with one of the top prospects going up against one of the best in the game.  This team needs a boost in the pitching staff, and hopefully Taillon provides it.  He's been sensational in AAA after essentially missing two whole seasons.  He's still young and promising, and could be an all-star type pitcher...he has that kind of front end talent. 

What happens now?  I would send Nicasio to the bullpen and plug Taillon into the rotation full time. Nicasio had a nice start tonight, but he looks better as a reliever to me. He only works two pitches and rarely pitches deep into games, it just makes sense he would work better out of the bullpen.  You could argue Locke could be removed from the rotation. He's had an OK run of starts, but at the end of the day he probably won't sustain it. Heck, even Liriano going to the DL makes sense. There's also the potential Taillon pitches here Wednesday and returns to AAA.  It is a wild stretch of games for the Pirates, so that would make sense, but would be wildly unpopular. To be honest, I'm not sure what will happen with Taillon, but I'm just excited to see him pitch tomorrow night.  

[Coach]

Those two wins were huge to stop the bleeding!

[Manfred]

Agree Nicasio to the pen for long relief and occasional spot starts if someone goes down for minor injuries, as they always happen.

[knowitall]

Could tonight's game be an early preview of the NL Wild Card game?  Or will the Cardinals turn it on and overtake the Mets for the second wild card?

[Crimson's Ghost]

I'm thinking Pirates, Mets, Dodgers, and Cardinals all seem viable contenders for the wild card. 

[12HankQB]

These cubs will fall

[dougkeklak]

While I missed the dh yesterday, I heard the better part of both contests on the radio while in the car (Pittsburgh to New Castle and back!). I saw the tribute the team did for Walker on twitter, cool.

The bullpen has been beyond frustrating and I think this is the type of thing they needed to get them back on track so I was happy to hear for the most part them doing well.

[Lionjacket]

It was a sad day for this Mets fan who was in the stands. That said, the Pirates did play pretty well. Every ball the Mets hit seemed to go right to a Pirate. I wish both teams good luck movin forward.