COMON Network

By COMON Network Team

Final Score – Cleveland Indians (15-9) 6, Pittsburgh Pirates (4-16) 1

WP: Aaron Civale (3-2)

LP: Dovydas Neverauskas (0-3)

SV: N/A

Wednesday night at PNC Park told a familiar tale, as the Pirates fell to the Cleveland Indians, 6-1.

The Indians broke a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth on a three-run homer by Carlos Santana, his second such blast in as many nights. Cleveland added three more in the eighth inning on a bases clearing double by Domingo Santana. For the Pirates, ninth inning home run by Cole Tucker meant absolutely nothing.

The Bucs will look to salvage something from this three-game set tomorrow evening at 7:05.

COMON Network Team Commentary

JOE SMELTZER

• Aside from a rocky first inning, Steven Brault had it going on tonight. It’s almost as if he should be pitching more than three innings on a regular basis.
• Any time Trevor Williams is a guest on the Pirates’ TV broadcast, it’s a treat. Whenever Williams retires from the game, he’ll be a fine fit for the broadcast booth, whether it’d be with a specific team or in the MLB Network studio.
• There will be some people watching tomorrow’s game who have never seen Cleveland’s Shane Bieber pitch before. Those folks are in for a treat. Bieber is a budding superstar, and I fully expect him to carve up the Pirates.

Player of the Game – Aaron Civale (CLE)

KYLE DAWSON

• Gregory Polanco man. I don’t even have words for how bad he has been. He’s 3-for-43 at the plate with 22 strikeouts. That’s an .070 batting average. It’s still a relatively small sample, but this is… well… it’s not good, to say the least.
• Aaron Civale dominated the Pirates lineup. Stop me if you’ve seen a pitcher do that this year. It won’t get any easier tomorrow, in fact, it will get more difficult with Shane Bieber. The Pirates only had a little more than a handful of hard hit balls tonight.
• Steven Brault was really solid after a lengthy first inning in terms of pitch count. He allowed just two hits and walked one with three strikeouts. He threw 80 pitches, and I’d like to see him get the sixth in a scoreless game, but here we are. Beggars can’t be choosers.

Player of the Game – Aaron Civale (CLE)

JACK HILLGROVE

• I’ve about had it with Gregory Polanco. Is there seriously a worse flop in the history of the ball club? I’m not sure there is. Think back to all of the hype that surrounded Polanco as he rose through the minor league system. Everyone seemed to think he was a sure fire elite outfielder, and here we are, year six in the majors, and he’s batting less than .100. I don’t want to hear anymore about how injury history or his lack of time in the minors. He’s had enough time to work out those kinks and hasn’t. The worst part of the situation? The Pirates owe him $11 million in 2021. No club buyout, all guaranteed. Gross. 
• Not many teams will win games with the top half of their lineup not recording a hit, and this isn’t the first time this scenario has happened to the Pirates this season. A lot of what’s happened this season is to blame on the horrendous bull pen, but the offense hasn’t been that great either. Little to no production from Bell, Moran, Newman, or Frazier, will not win any games for you. As the trade deadline approaches, the worse this offense is only hurts the Pirates. A guy like Colin Moran is a name that people have speculated to be moved, but what kind of return are you going to get on him? My guess is not a lot. And for him to be apart of the Garett Cole trade, a poor return on a potential Moran trade would only make that worse. 
• Okay, here’s a positive! Steven Brault has yet any other quality. start. Five innings, three punchouts, and a walk, with a pitch count of 80. He’s been probably the best SP for the Buccos this season with an ERA of 3.00. I just wish Shelton would let him throw a little bit longer, but not in today’s case. 80 after five is a bit much, but next time out if he can keep the PC low, let him go! 

Player of the Game – Carlos Santana (CLE)