The Pirates dropped their third game of the season Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and once again the offense was nonexistent.
Jonathan Sanchez was given the ball for his first start as a Pirate. He actually did pretty well. For a guy whose ERA was over eight last season, Sanchez looked decent for a fourth starter. He pitched five innings and allowed three runs. One of the runs was an absolute bomb given up to Andre Ethier, and the other two were driven in by Matt Kemp and Adrian Gonzalez. Before allowing the two runs towards the end of his outing to Kemp and Gonzalez, Sanchez surprised a good bit of fans with his outing.
Sanchez did get the loss, but for the third time this season, the Bucs were given a good start by their starting pitcher, and the offense couldn’t back him up.
As I mentioned above, the offense was nowhere to be found. It’s no surprise, as they faced the 147-million dollar man in Zack Greinke. Greinke only allowed two hits through his six innings of pitching, and Paco Rodriguez, Kenley Jansen, and Brandon League did their jobs out of the bullpen to close the game out.
The Pirates finished the night with two hits. Garrett Jones was credited for a hit on a misplayed ball by second basemen Mark Ellis, and it probably should have been an error. The only other hit of the night was a solid base hit up the middle by Andrew McCutchen.
A bright side to the Pirates was the relief of Jeanmar Gomez. Similar to Sanchez, Gomez made his Pirates debut, and looked very impressive. Gomez threw three innings, and only allowed one hit.
The Pirates dropped their seventh game in a row at Dodgers Stadium. Tomorrow’s game will be a battle of the aces, and Clayton Kershaw (1-0) will take on A.J. Burnett (0-1). First pitch is set for 9:10 P.M. EST.
Photo Credit: USA Today
