Around the NL Central: Pirates and Brewers Happy, Cubs and Cardinals Are Not
The Cincinnati Reds won two games and lost one over the weekend. That put them smack dab in the middle of the division. Here’s a look around the NL Central:
1. Pittsburgh Pirates (4-0)
The Pittsburgh Pirates had the best weekend of all five teams in the division. They swept a four game set against the Miami Marlins. The Pirates outscored the Marlins 31-17.
Pittsburgh saw a great weekend for Ke’Bryan Hayes at the plate. He got on-base over 50% of the time and led the team with four RBI. O’Neill Cruz slugged a home run, as did Rowdy Tellez, Brian Reynolds, and Edward Olivares. Reynolds also led the team with five RBI for their first four games. New addition Michael A. Taylor also had five hits in 13 at-bats.
As good as the lineup was, their bullpen was the real star. In 20 1/3 combined innings for Pirates relievers, they allowed just two runs. They also held Marlins hitters to just eight hits and four walks. As much as any one batter contributed to the Pirates success, the bullpen was the real MVP. Luis Ortiz led the team with four innings pitched, but no reliever pitched less than an inning and two-thirds.
The Pirates face the Washington Nationals in their next series.
2. Milwaukee Brewers (3-0)
The undefeated Brewers are right behind the Pirates. Milwaukee’s pitched suffocated the New York Mets lineup, holding them to just eight total runs in the series. The Brewers lineup produced plenty of baserunners, but not as many runs as they could have had.
The pitching staff was led by two good outings from Freddy Peralta and Colin Rea. Peralta pitched six innings, allowing just one run (solo home run), and one walk. No other Mets reached base against him and he struck out eight. Rea allowed five total hits and one run while striking out two. In the absence of Devin Williams, the Brewers have given two save opportunities to Abner Uribe, who converted them both. Four of the other six relief pitchers who saw time allowed no earned runs in their multiple appearances.
The lineup was potent in getting on base and just successful enough to score enough runs to win. Four Brewers hitters amassed five hits in the three-game set. William Contreras, Brice Tourang, Christian Yelich, and newcomer Jackson Chourio make up that list. Yelich and Rhys Hoskins provided Milwaukee’s two homers.
The Brewers and Mets also saw multiple instances where tempers flared between them. These feelings may subside and disappear before they meet again in the final series of the year.
The Brewers next series is against the Minnesota Twins.
3. Reds (2-1)
For more on the Reds' weekend, go here.
4. Chicago Cubs (1-2)
The Cubs faced the defending World Champion Texas Rangers and salvaged the series on Sunday. The final two games of the series inflated some ERAs for both teams. Perhaps the most significant development of the series was the injury to Justin Steele. He tweaked his hamstring and will be out for at least the entire month of April.
The Cubs were led at the plate by Ian Happ and Christopher Morel. Happ was on base half the time while Morel provided one of two Cubs homers for the series. Dansby Swanson hit the other long ball. Five players recorded RBI for the Cubs, led by Morel and Swanson with three. Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki joined Happ with a pair of runs batted in.
The pitching was a mixed bag, as 16 of the 20 runs allowed to the Rangers were from Jordan Wicks, Kyle Hendricks, and Ben Brown. Brown was called up to replace Steele on the active roster. Mark Leiter Jr, Hector Neris, Julian Merryweather, Luke Little, and Jose Cuas combined for nine and one-third innings of shutout ball, out of the bullpen.
The Cubs face the Colorado Rockies for their next series.
5. St Louis Cardinals (1-3)
The Cardinals opening series was split between two non-competitive games and two playoff-like games. The Los Angeles Dodgers dominated the Cardinals in the first two games, and then pushed each of the next two games to the end before it was finally decided. Paul Goldschmidt led a very uneven hitting performance for St Louis while only one pitcher out of the bullpen kept the scoreboard clean.
Goldschmidt had four hits, including a homer, and four RBI to lead the team in those categories. He got on base just over 41% of the time, too. Nolan Gorman joined him as the only other player with four hits (no Cardinals hitter had more) but Gorman added nine strikeouts which torpedoed his productivity. Brendan Donovan had four RBI, Gorman had two, but that was the end of the list of Cardinals with multiple RBI in this series. The Dodgers pitching staff really shut them down.
Cardinals pitching didn’t fare much better. While Lance Lynn was the only starter to keep the scoreboard clean, he only pitched four innings. Steven Matz managed five and a third innings with just two runs allowed, but the bullpen blew any chance the Cardinals had at winning the game in which he pitched. The other two starters—Zack Thompson and Miles Mikolas—were roughed up by the LA lineup.
The St Louis bullpen took a direct hit. Only Andrew Kittredge kept runs off the board in a pair of appearances that totaled just an inning and two-thirds. Every other Cardinals reliever allowed at least one run.
The Cardinals face the San Diego Padres this week.
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JEFF CARR
Jeff has hosted the only daily podcast covering the Cincinnati Reds since 2018. He’s been a life long fan of the Reds. He was at Clinchmas and the 2015 Home Run Derby. He is also the channel manager that supports all MLB podcasts on the Locked On Podcast Network. Jeff has extensive media experience as he covered college basketball and volleyball for Tennessee State and college softball for Mercer University.