Pittsburgh Pirates vs. San Diego Padres Round Two: What To Expect
After getting swept by the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend, the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking for a rebound. The Friday and Saturday games featured sloppy play, but the Pirates took a step in the right direction in Sunday's 3-0 loss. It broke a string of six consecutive series without a series loss and moved the Pirates down to 12-15 after going over .500 earlier this week. After the sweep, the Pirates are looking to bounce back away from PNC Park, a place they have done well this season. In 12 road games this season, the Pirates are 7-8 in 15 games including a 6-3 road trip last time out. However, their first stop isn't easy as they head to San Diego to take on the Padres, who are getting back on track.
After getting a lot of hype in the off-season, the Padres are out to a pretty mediocre start going 16-13 through the first 29 games of the season. Since splitting a four-game series with the Pirates, the Padres have gone just 6-7 during that stretch, but are on the rise after taking two out of three from the San Francisco Giants over the weekend. The Padres had a big series with the Dodgers, and have played nine straight games against the National League West. The Pirates have a chance to knock the Padres down a step again and prove that they can play with a contending team. Today, we look at round two between the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates and let you know what to expect.
What Happened Last Time
The last time the Padres and Pirates faced off, it was during a four-game stretch at PNC Park. The Pirates were not picked to win any of those games, but they surprised some people going 2-2 to earn a split with the Padres. After falling 6-2 in the opener of the series, things weren't looking good as the Bucs had to go up against reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell and former Pirate Joe Musgrove coming off of a no-hitter. The Pirates responded by beating both pitchers. They knocked Snell out of the game in the first inning of their 8-4 win and came back to score the first runs of the year off Musgrove in a 5-1 win. The Pirates dropped the final game of the series 8-3 but surprised some teams by earning a split over what has widely been considered as the second-best team in baseball.
During that series, the Pirates got major contributions all over their lineup as Adam Frazier and Colin Moran each had big series. Moran was able to get on base consistently throughout the series, hitting .308 with two RBI. He had one extra-base hit and had an OPS of .695 in the four-game series. Moran has been the Pirate's top run producer this season and will be a big factor in the Pirate's success during this second series. Frazier has been hitting all season for the Pirates but especially had a good season against the Padres. He hit .400 in the four games while driving in three RBI and half of his hits ended up going for extra bases. If the Pirates want to be successful again, they will have to get a big showing from their offense against a dominant Padres Rotation.
Score Early and Often
When the Pirates were successful in the two games that won in that four-game series, it was because they scored early in the game. Of the combined 13 runs they scored in the two wins, seven of them came in the first three innings of those ball games. The Pirates won't see Musgrove or Snell during this three-game series, but they still have to go against a red hot pitching staff. The Padres pitching staff leads the Major Leagues with a 2.91 ERA, including a 2.64 ERA from their starting pitchers (2nd in MLB). One way to stop good pitching is to get ahead early and make the other teamwork from behind.
While their first-inning batting average isn't that good, their run-scoring ability in the first has been good. Despite ranking 25th in MLB with a .210 batting average in the first inning of games, the Pirates rank 14th in the league in first inning runs scored with 14. A big part of this success has been because of the work of Adam Frazier at the top of the lineup and the Pirate's work with two outs this season. Frazier is tied for the sixth-most hits in the National League with 31 and is in the top 30 in the National League in On-Base percentage. When he gets on, it may take a while but the Pirates usually drive him in with two outs. The Pirates rank in the top half of the league with a .234 average with two outs and runners in scoring position. This will be crucial in this series as the Pirates not only have to score early to hold off the Padres but also score often.
Handling Tatis Jr.
There is also one more factor the Pirates must face in this series that they didn't have to face last time. In their series from April 12th through April 15th, the Padres were missing their young star Fernando Tatis Jr. In his place, was shortstop Ha-Seong Kim who is hitting just .216 with a home run and four RBI. However, Tatis Jr. is a sharp contrast from this, hitting .240 with eight home runs and 12 RBI. The Pirates have faced Tatis Jr. one other time, but it was before he turned into the megastar he is today. He faced the Pirates in a three-game series back in 2019 and didn't have a good go of things hitting just .182. He had no extra-base hits in the series and was struck out six times.
However, of the pitchers he faced in that series, only Kyle Crick, Geoff Hartlieb, Clay Holmes, and Richard Rodriguez remain. After a slow start to the season, Tatis Jr. has really turned it on as of late hitting .296 with four home runs and six RBI in his last seven games. The Pirate's first starter in this three-game series, Tyler Anderson, is one of the guys with the most experience against Tatis Jr. He faced him last season and in four at-bats, Tatis Jr. did not get a hit. He walked once, but other than that had four groundouts and did not reach base at all. Tatis Jr. has not faced either of the other two starting pitchers in this series, which could give the Pirates an advantage as Taris Jr. will have to adjust.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (12-15) kick off their third road trip of the season when they start a three-game series against the San Diego Padres (16-13) in some late-night ball tonight at 10:10 pm. Tyler Anderson (2-2, 3.38) gets to face his old NL West rivals as he tries to stay consistent on the mound against Miguel Diaz (0-0, -.--) for the Padres. You can watch the game on AT&T Sportsnet or listen to the game on 93.7 The Fan.
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