All-in-all this wasn't a terrible series for the Pirates. The pitching certainly wasn't near as strong as it was on the first road trip, but the Pirates had chances to win 3 of the 4 games. The home opener was bad, not much of a game at all, but the Pirates could have won each of the next 3 games. Friday they got it done in extras, Saturday the Rockies put 3 on the board in the 8th and the Pirates couldn't bounce back, and Sunday the Pirates just couldn't get the big hit late in the game when they needed it.
At the end of the series, the Pirates starters finished with a 5.32 ERA in the 4 games, giving up 5.5 hits per start and 4 runs per start. Three of the four starters (Maholm, Morton, and McDonald) made it past the 6th inning, but none of them were able to earn wins.
The offense didn't do enough to earn more than 1 win from this series, and that was the biggest problem. The team put up only 14 runs in the 4 games and hit for a putrid batting average of .191. You have to give some credit to the Rockies, who threw out some pretty talented starters in this series, despite not having their ace, Ubaldo Jimenez. I said it at the beginning of the year and I'll say it again, the Rockies are legitimately one of the best teams in the National League, they are my pick to win the NL West.
The bright spot of the series was undoubtably Jose Tabata. In the series, the Pirates lead off hitter was 5/16 (.312) with 2 home runs, 3 RBI, and 3 stolen bases. He season average is not up to .342, the highest on the team. Andrew McCutchen had a rough series, going 2/17 and bringing his batting average down to .257 on the young season.
If the Pirates are going to win ballgames, they are going to have to have more production from the 1-6 guys in their order. They really didn't do too much in this series, and the Pirates lost 3 of the 4 games. The pitching is not going to be like it was in the first two series, but it might be better than it was in this series, either way the offense is going to have to score more runs if the Pirates want to be the least bit competitive this year.
The good news is that the Pirates are still at .500, with 5 wins and 5 losses. It took them 10 games to lose 2 in a row, so that's certainly a good sign. They're a resilient bunch and should be back ready to play on Tuesday.
Here's the updated offense and starting pitching breakdowns for the first 10 games of the season:
We'll have a new post or two up tomorrow, as it is the Pirates first off day of the year. They'll be back in action Tuesday as they start a 3-game set with the hated Milwaukee Brewers.