Pirates sweep momentum

The Pittsburgh Pirates did not just win another April series. On Sunday, April 5, they beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-2 at PNC Park, finished a three-game sweep, and pushed their winning streak to five games. That moved them to 6-3, right in the middle of the early National League Central race, one game behind Milwaukee and tied in the loss column with Cincinnati. The streak matters because it followed a shaky start, including an Opening Day blowup from Paul Skenes, and because it has been built in a way that looks more durable than a random hot week. The Pirates have not been surviving on chaos. They have been getting length from starters and real damage from the middle of the order. Sunday showed the shape of it. Ryan O’Hearn, one of the club’s key offseason additions, drove in four runs and homered in the first inning. Oneil Cruz kept punishing mistakes, adding a two-run shot in the sixth after already knocking in a run earlier. Pittsburgh was up 6-0 by the second inning, which let Braxton Ashcraft work without stress. He gave them six innings, one run, eight strikeouts, and no walks. That line was not just a nice afternoon. It fit a larger pattern. Since Skenes’ rough first outing, Pirates starters have allowed two earned runs or fewer in every game. (espn.in) That is why the sweep feels different from a small-sample blip. Earlier in the week, the Pirates had already taken a road series in Cincinnati. Cruz hit a three-run homer in the first inning of the April 1 finale, and Skenes answered his ugly opener with five innings of one-run ball in an 8-3 win. A day before that, Cruz hit two home runs in another win over the Reds. The club has spent the first 10 days of the season proving that its best path still starts on the mound, but now the lineup is finally giving that pitching room to breathe. (mlb.com) The Orioles series added a second reason to pay attention. On Friday, April 3, Pittsburgh called up 19-year-old shortstop Konnor Griffin for the home opener. Griffin is baseball’s top prospect, and he did not arrive quietly. In his first major league at-bat, he ripped an RBI double. The Pirates won that game 5-4, then followed with another win Saturday before closing the sweep Sunday. A five-game streak in April can be flimsy. A five-game streak that overlaps with the arrival of a top prospect and the stabilization of the rotation feels more like a team finding its intended shape. (espn.com) There is also a simpler explanation for the surge. The Pirates look more competent than they did a year ago at turning good pitching into wins. O’Hearn was signed in January after an All-Star season, in part because Pittsburgh needed a steadier bat at first base. He has already become part of the answer. Cruz, meanwhile, looks far more dangerous against left-handed pitching than he did last season. ESPN’s recap of Sunday noted that he is 7 for 10 with three homers against lefties after going 11 for 108 with one homer against them the year before. If that change is real, it alters the ceiling of the whole lineup. (mlb.com) The timing matters because the Pirates do not get to ease into the month. Their next series opened Monday, April 6, at home against San Diego, with rookie Bubba Chandler scheduled to face Germán Márquez. Pittsburgh entered that game 3-0 at PNC Park, carrying a sweep, a five-game streak, and a rotation that had suddenly turned every game into the same kind of problem for the other side: score early if you can, because the window keeps closing. (espn.in)