Pittsburgh Pirates: Welcome Back, Ian Snell

It’s been ages since Snell has pitched like this, like he did on Wednesday against the Nationals—like the ace he was supposed to be.

In fact, the victory over a depleted Washington team was his first since April 12.

Snell was sharp, pitching six scoreless innings before allowing a double and walk to open the seventh. One of those runners would go on to score, leaving Snell with a line of one earned run, six hits, three walks, and six strikeouts in six-plus innings

Most importantly, he left the game with a two-run lead.

It couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Pirates have spent much of the year making up late-inning deficits and winning games in a dramatic fashion, but rarely have they had to deal with adversity in the form of blowing a lead.

It wasn’t until Tuesday night, when Matt Capps allowed a double and home run consecutive pitches with two outs in the ninth that a 6-5 victory suddenly became a 7-6 defeat.

Not only was it Capps’ first blown save of the season, it was the first time this year that the Pirates had lost a game in which they were leading after the sixth inning.

Enter Snell.

On a night when the Pirates appeared in poise to give another game away— starting with stranding runners on second and third in the first inning with nobody out, the Pirates left runners in scoring position all night and failed to drive in a runner from third with less than two outs on multiple occasions—their former ace would not let them.

The Pirates probably should have been up by four or five runs by the end of the second inning.

Instead, they led 1-0.

That was enough for Snell, who didn’t even allow the Nationals to threaten until the sixth.

By then, Snell had given his team multiple opportunities to create a bit of a cushion. At least at that point he led 2-0.

That’s exactly what you need from your ace.

The Pirate offense has been getting it done all year, but they are going to have some off nights.

Due to their suspect pitching, an offensive off night this year has pretty much meant an automatic loss.

But not against the Nationals.

I’m not ready to get back on the Snell bandwagon just yet, but his last two starts— Snell gave up one earned run in five innings against Arizona in his last outing— are a reason for some encouragement.

At the least, it was nice to have the old Snell back for a night. The Pirates sure could use him.

Welcome back, Ian. The Pirates have missed you.