There are plenty of ways to talk about this game; one is to say that the Pirates lost two of three to the Marlins, who are generally pretty terrible and have the NL's worst record. Another would be to point out that since June 8th, the Marlins are 23-19, which is the NL East's best record in that span. You can point to all of the strikeouts (13 at the hands of rookie Jose Fernandez today) and say that it's proof that the Pirates need to find a bat, or you could point out that the Pirates' winning percentage in games where they strike out 11+ times is just about the same as their winning percentage in every other game and that maybe the strikeouts don't matter nearly as much as they seem like they do on afternoons like today. It's worth pointing out that Gerrit Cole was pretty nasty today, striking out eight in seven innings and throwing a nasty slider all afternoon. And, of course, it's worth wondering why he came anywhere near the strike zone with Giancarlo Stanton in the sixth inning of a 2-2 game.
Here's what matters: the Pirates lost two of three this weekend, but the Cardinals and Reds both got swept. What is almost certainly the biggest series in the history of PNC Park starts on Monday, with the Cardinals holding a 1 1/2 game lead on the Pirates before a five-game set. If the Pirates play well against the Cardinals, we'll forget this ugly weekend in Miami ever happened.
