This early in the season, luck swings like a weathervane in a hurricane. The guy who hasn’t been hitting, hits, and vice-versa. The automatic out machine on the mound gets shelled; the guy who’s been handing out hits left and right locks up bats.
Such was the case with this Pirates/Reds series. The Reds have been awful, only having won three games. The Pirates, while not setting the world on fire, expected to easily roll over them in the hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park.
Instead, they dropped three out of four, including this afternoon’s 7-3 loss.
In the second inning, Reds starter Tyler Mahle walked Yoshi Tsutsugo, who was on base when Michael Perez, called up from Indy after Roberto Perez’s injury, launched a cannonball into the right center seats for a 2-0 Bucs lead.