10/30/14

A Look Back to the Wild Card Game

The Pirates played in the Wild Card Game on October 1 against the San Francisco Giants at PNC Park. Everyone in the stadium was excited for playoff baseball. Both teams were ready to play and what was the end result? A brutal 8-0 loss for the Pirates. Even though they lost, we, as Pirates fans, should look at the bright side. The Pirates had a second-consecutive winning season. They also made it to the playoffs for a second-straight year. Why be disappointed? The Pirates proved that they weren't ready. The bullpen had many flaws this season, the bench was bad, Pedro Alvarez struggled mightily, and many more occurrences. Many people kept putting the Wild Card Game loss on Clint Hurdle for deciding to start Gerrit Cole in the September 27 game against the Cincinnati Reds. Edinson Volquez got the start in the Wild Card Game and was the losing pitcher. Yes, Volquez could have pitched better, but something else that needs to be factored was the hitting. The Pirates bats weren't there. They were only able to muster four hits off of Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner. I really do not believe that there would have been a different result if Gerrit Cole was starting. It was a bad loss, but all of us should be excited for the 2015 season. The past is the past and it's time to move on.