One of the few bright spots has been getting to watch Roansy Contreras pitch every fifth night.
In his fourth start since returning to the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 17th, he continued to showcase his talent.
What has been most impressive has been the team’s he has faced. He allowed only two earned runs across seven innings against the Atlanta Braves, tossed five scoreless innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, and then Saturday night he completed six innings while only allowing one earned run to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Across Roansy’s six innings he allowed four hits, walked two batters, and struck out five hitters. He threw 92 pitches of which 65 were strikes (71%). As would be expected, 81 of his 92 pitches were either Fourseam Fastball or Slider, with the Slider leading the count 42 times. He also threw 10 Curveballs and a single changeup. The Blue Jays had an average exit velocity of 85.2 MPH which is a strong sign for Contreras as he’s so far had an above average EV in his starts, but has recently seen those numbers dropping below league average in individual games.
The offense didn’t do too much to help Contreras, as he had a brief 1-0 lead, and the offense never scored again. In the bottom of the third, Jason Delay hit a one-out single that was followed by an Oneil Cruz run-scoring triple. The triple itself was pretty amazing as it was on a ball out of the zone that Cruz had no business making contact on, let alone driving it to right center for a triple.
Cruzin' pic.twitter.com/4NcchGz4WP
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 3, 2022
The game was tied 1-1 after six innings when Contreras left the game for Duane Underwood Jr. Underwood Jr. walked the bases loaded after getting the second out of the inning. Bo Bichette worked the count full and on the tenth pitch of the at-bat he drove a Cutter to left field that emptied the bases for a 4-1 lead. That would be the last batter that Underwood Jr. would face as Robert Stephenson would be brought on to finish the inning and he struck out Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Stephenson came back out for the eighth inning and hit the first batter. Santiago Espinal left the game for a pinch runner, and his replacement Whit Merrifield was thrown out trying to steal second base. Stephenson finished off the inning with a flyout and a strike out. He’d finish his evening pitching 1.1 innings with the hit by pitch and two strikeouts.
Manny Banuelos was tabbed for the ninth and he got through it quickly on only seven pitches.
The highlight for the offense was the third inning RBI triple by Cruz. For the night Oneil Cruz went 2-for-4 with the triple. It was his third triple of the season and his 36th RBI.
Jason Delay went 1-for-2 with a single and a walk.
Blue Jays @ Pirates
Time: 12:05 PM EST
Pirates Starter: JT Brubaker (3-11, 4.39)
Blue Jays Starter: Ross Stripling (6-4, 2.94)
Brubaker Notes: In is last start that was against the Braves, JT Brubaker was torched for six earned runs in 6.2 innings. He’s pitching on extended rest as he was momentarily placed on the Paternity List for the birth of his child. He’ll look to get back on track and hopefully mimic his start against the Boston Red Sox that saw him complete seven scoreless innings and get the Pirates back in the win column.
LINEUPS:
Pirates
Rise and shine.#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/WnPV0gcqkU
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 4, 2022
Blue Jays
Going for the sWWWeep! #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/kuSImkpCXj
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 4, 2022
