Archer bitten by big inning in Virtual Pirates' loss to Indians in Series opener


 I will be serving as general manager/manager of the Pirates in a 2020 season simulation along with 29 others using Out Of The Park Baseball. Feel free to check here for regular updates. I realize baseball is a lot less important than what is going on in the world today but perhaps it can provide a diversion for a few moments.

CLEVELAND – The Virtual Pirates’ improbable appearance in the World Series got off on the wrong foot.

The Virtual Cleveland Indians scored all their runs in their fourth inning off Chris Archer and beat the Virtual Buccos 5-2 on Monday night in Game 1 of the Fall Classic at Virtual Progressive Field.

Game 2 is set for Tuesday night with Mitch Keller facing Carlos Carrasco.

The Virtual Tribe broke a scoreless tie during their big inning while chasing Archer. Rookie Nolan Jones singled in the first two runs then Roberto Perez and Jake Bauers hit back-to-back home runs later in the inning to make it 5-0.

The Pirates’ scoring was limited to Elias Diaz’s two-run home run off winner Aaron Civale in the sixth inning.

Archer allowed five hits in 3 2/3 innings while striking out three and walking one. Clay Holmes and Michael “Big Mike” Feliz finished with a combined 4 1/3 scoreless innings but the damage had been done.

Holmes has not allowed a run in his last 11 appearances and 15 innings.

Civale wound up pitching 6 1/3 innings and the Virtual Corsairs managed just two hits against him. Brad Hand worked the ninth inning for the save.

The Pirates were held to four hits total while the Indians managed just six.

The Pirates’ Nos. 2-5 hitters – Bryan Reynolds, Josh Bell, Adam Duvall and Gregory Polanco – combined to go 0 for 15 with seven strikeouts. Bell is 2 for 20 in his last five games.

Game time temperature was 53 degrees with the wind blowing out to left field at 11 mph. Time of game was three hours and 37 minutes. Attendance was 34,989.

Ownership originally wanted the Pirates to commute between Pittsburgh and Cleveland for each of the potential four road games in the series. The rationale was that money had not been budgeted for the unexpected postseason travel.

However, at the behest of bench coach Craig Wilson, traveling secretary Greg Johnson solved the problem by renting a fleet of luxury RVs to transport the ballclub. The RVs are being parked at a Wal Mart in an undisclosed location in Northeast Ohio.

“If you can’t stay in a luxury hotel then a luxury RV is the next best thing,” Wilson said. “Plus, the guys can pick up anything they need at Wal Mart either before or after we leave for the ballpark.”

 

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