Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Well, I guess Starling Marte is partially to blame for the Pittsburgh Pirates‘ loss on Tuesday night against the division rival St. Louis Cardinals, but he is by no means the only reason why the Pirates couldn’t get the win.
The Pirates jumped out to an early 3-0 lead thanks in large part to Adam Wainwright struggling with his command, a rare occurrence for the Cardinals’ ace. Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run opposite field home run to score Neil Walker in the first inning, and the third run came on a Jordy Mercer solo home run in the second inning.
After that, the Pirates weren’t able to bring in any more runs, despite playing 14 innings.
The play by Marte I referred to earlier came in the bottom of the ninth inning. Pirates closer Mark Melancon came in to try and get the save with the Bucs leading by one run. After getting the first out, Melancon got Daniel Descalso to hit a fly ball to left field. It was a routine fly ball that should have been caught, but Marte simply dropped it. Dropping a fly ball is inexcusable, yes, but let’s not blame Marte for this loss.
You know who fans should be blaming for the loss? The entire offense.
After scoring three early runs, there is no reason for the Pirates to finish a 14-inning game with only three in the runs column. That is 12 scoreless innings by the Pirates’ offense — simply unacceptable.
It is becoming a very common thing this season for the Pirates to get on the board early and struggle to add on, and that has to stop. Against a team with an offense like the Cardinals, adding on runs is a necessity, no matter how good the Pirates’ pitching is.
This loss really does hurt, especially since it was against the team that the Pirates are fighting with for the division title. Pittsburgh came into the game with a three-game lead on the division and now have just a two-game lead. However, fans need to remember it is one game. Obviously every game counts, but let’s not overreact to one road loss against one of the best teams in baseball.
Zach Morrison is a Pittsburgh Pirates writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Zach_Morrison1 or add him to your network on Google
