The Pirates’ Dillon Peters was outstanding but his bullpen almost let the game slip away last night, as the Bucs hung on to drop the Reds out of position for the NL’s second Wild Card spot.
Joe Block has the story of a close Bucco win over the Reds.
The win was only the Pirates second in 11 games against the Reds this year, and they’d been outscored 82-26 going into the game. Manager Derek Shelton said the Pirates took on a tough pitcher in the Reds’ Wade Miley, who had not allowed a run in more than 13 innings in two previous starts against the Bucs this year.
Shelton said his pitchers came through against a tough Reds lineup.
Mitch Keller (4-11, 6.29 ERA) faces Cincinnati’s Vladimir Gutierrez (9-6, 4.05 ERA) tonight in the second game of the series. Airtime is 6:10 on WCCS.
The Pirates placed reliever David Bednar on the ten-day injured list with a right oblique strain and recalled reliever Enyel De Los Santos, who they claimed off waivers from the Phillies on Monday.
Today is Roberto Clemente Day across Major League Baseball, and yesterday, MLB announced that it has expanded the list of players who can wear Clemente’s famed number-21. The Pirates can have all of their team members wear the number on the special day, and MLB says all players of Puerto Rican descent can as well, along with all of the nominees for the Roberto Clemente Award in a given season, and all past winners of the humanitarian award. All players, managers, and coaches will all also wear a number-21 patch. MLB also announced that from now on, Roberto Clemente Day will be celebrated each September 15th.
Each team nominates a player each year for the Roberto Clemente Award, which is given to the player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.” This year’s Pirates nominee for the award is catcher Jacob Stallings, who found out from team owner Bob Nutting.
