April 7, 2017 – Pirates 5, Braves 4

April 8, 2017 – Pirates 6, Braves 4

April 9, 2017 – Pirates 6, Braves 5 (Final in 10)

3-2 Record in 2017

The Really Good

The bullpen. These guys are dominant. The back end of Rivero, Hudson and Watson is going to provide the starters with some comfort to hand the ball over in the 7th inning with the lead. Trevor Williams looked great also in his first appearance of the season going 2 innings in the final game of the series keeping the Braves lead at 1, which let the Pirates come back twice.

Gregory Polanco. 4-4 Saturday night against the knuckleballer R.A. Dickey.

Starling Marte. Who doesn’t love a walk off, 2-run home run to sweep the series? Marte got all of that ball. He could be a 20/20 guy this year. He definitely has the power potential.

The Not So Bad

Jordy Mercer. He turned a fantastic double play on Friday late in the game to keep the Pirates lead and had some great AB’s throughout the series. 2 RBI’s and went 2-4 on Friday. A lot of people overlook Jordy, but he is one of the most underrated shortstops in baseball.

The Very Ugly

Chad Kuhl. Kuhl looked miserable Saturday night. He walked 6 and was all over the place in 5 innings. He managed to only give up 2 earned runs, but hopefully he can put this one behind him. His fastball-slider combo isn’t ideal because he does not have a third pitch to compliment them with. It’s tough to keep fooling hitters that way.

Atlanta’s defense. Probably one of the big reasons the Bucs swept the series. They were horrible on Saturday night. If they played clean D then the Bucs probably lose that game.

Cincinnati comes to Pittsburgh next starting Monday.