Well, so much for that.
For the second straight game, ECU alum Jeff Hoffman struck out the side to pick up a save, his ninth of the season, in a 6-3 win over the Mariners on Saturday. He dropped his ERA to 3.79 with the outing.
On Friday, he struck out the side in the ninth inning to lock things up and lower his ERA to 4.00. He picked up his eighth save of the season in the win.
He gave up six runs on six hits in two previous relief appearances against the Angels on May 6 and May 7 to raise his ERA to 4.24 before Friday.
His two bad outings prompted JaysJournal.com to write, “The Jeff Hoffman honeymoon is over for the Blue Jays. The closer got a visit from the regression monster in Los Angeles.”
Michael Fisher wrote in part, “Unfortunately, the regression monster came for the 32-year-old and showed no mercy as he got pummeled in back-to-back outings on the West Coast.”
Well, so much for that. For now, at least.
See below to find out what the rest of the Pirates in baseball did on Saturday.
Danny Beal
The former ECU relief pitcher got the start for the Down East Bird Dawgs on Saturday in the program’s second game of the season.
He pitched well but did not factor in the 6-5 loss to the Ottawa Titans. He pitched four innings, giving up three runs, two earned, on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts.
Beal left with the game tied at 3-3. He faced 18 batters and threw 71 pitches, 44 for strikes. He now has an ERA of 4.50 after the first start.
Eric Ritchie
He was on the mound and got the win as Clearwater went on to win 10-5 over St. Lucie. He came on in the sixth inning and pitched through the seventh, giving up a run on two hits with two strikeouts. The run he gave up was a solo homer in the seventh.
See below to find out what the rest of the Pirates in baseball did on Saturday.
Major League Baseball
- Connor Norby, Miami Marlins: 1-for-3 with a walk in 3-1 win over White Sox
- Alec Burleson, St. Louis Cardinals: 2-for-3 with a walk in 4-2 win over Nationals
- Shawn Armstrong, Texas Rangers: Pitched in 10-3 win over Tigers. Gave up a run on a hit in 1.1 innings during the seventh inning. ERA went up to 3.24.
- Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians: Did not pitch in 7-1 loss to Phillies
- Jeff Hoffman, Toronto Blue Jays: See above
- Zach Agnos, Colorado Rockies: Did not pitch in 21-0 loss to Padres
- Clayton McCullough, Miami Marlins (manager): Won 3-1 over White Sox to improve to 15-23
Triple-A
- Carson Whisenhunt, Sacramento RiverCats (San Francisco Giants): Did not pitch in 7-5 win over Tacoma
Double-A
- Carter Spivey, Akron Rubber Ducks (Guardians): Did not pitch in 5-0 loss to Somerset
- Trey Benton, Akron Rubber Ducks (Guardians): On season-ending disabled list
Single-A
- Trey Yesavage, Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays): Did not pitch in 3-0 win over Fort Myers
- Carter Cunningham, Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays): 1-for-5 with a run and RBI in 5-4 loss to Spokane. Had his 16th RBI of the season with a two-out single to drive in a run in the third to cut the deficit to 2-1.
- Josh Moylan, Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees): Did not pitch in 5-2 win over Wilmington
- Josh Grosz, Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees): Did not pitch in 5-2 win over Wilmington
- Tyler Bradt, Peoria Chiefs (Cardinals): Did not pitch in 9-5 win over Wisconsin
- Jacob-Jenkins-Cowart, Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins): 1-for-4 in 3-0 loss to Palm Beach
- Ryan McCrystal, Daytona Tortugas (Reds): 1-for-3 with run and two walks in 10-7 loss to Tampa. Walked and scored in the second inning to give Daytona a 2-0 lead.
- Wyatt Lunsford-Shenkman, Modesto Nuts (Mariners): Placed on full-season disabled list on April 15.
- Erik Ritchie, Clearwater Threshers (Phillies): See above
Frontier League
- Danny Beal, Down East Bird Dawgs (Independent): See above
Photo credit: Jeff Hoffman (Associated Press photo)
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