Pirates Series Takeaways: No House of Horrors This Time, Griffin Getting Going, ‘Pen Lights Out
· Yahoo Sports
The stadium formerly known as and more appropriate named Miller Park — now called America Family Field — has notoriously been an incredibly difficult place to play for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates hadn’t finished better than .500 in Milwaukee in a single season since 2018, and to be honest, I’m surprised it hadn’t been even longer ago than that.
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The Brewers seem to always have the Pirates’ number when playing on their home field, but this series, it was the Pirates who were in control for the majority of the weekend.
The Pirates led wire to wire on Friday. They didn’t ever trail in Saturday’s win in extra innings. Milwaukee, meanwhile, didn’t lead for the first time until fourth inning on Sunday.
Did it end the way they would’ve wanted? Of course not, but a series win is a series in. And a series win in Milwaukee means a little bit more.
A couple more takeaways from a successful weekend.
Griffin Getting Going
Konnor Griffin’s birthday weekend was his best stretch of play so far as a big-leaguer.
Griffin, who turned 20 on Friday, slugged his first-career home run in the first game of the series. It was an impressive opposite-field blast off veteran right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who is having a solid year and has had a successful big-league career.
.@KonnorGriffin22's first Major-League Home Run comes on his 20th birthday. How can you not be romantic about baseball? pic.twitter.com/Is1qCKBKfc
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 25, 2026
The blast was part of a night that included a career-high three hits and three RBI and was only the beginning of a roaring start to his 20’s.
Griffin ended the series with five hits in 11 at-bats. He homered, drove in four runs, stole two bases and drew a walk. He raised his batting average from .182 to .224.
There’s a reason Griffin has been considered the top prospect in baseball. Although it’s been a slow start to his career, which shouldn’t be a surprise, you can see see the talent that makes him so intriguing.
There will almost certainly be more growing pains, but I have a feeling this is the start of better play for Griffin.
Lights Out ‘Pen
I’ve been critical of the Pirates bullpen this season at times, mainly middle relief. But the relievers were lights out this series.
Combined between the three games, the bullpen covered 11.1 innings. They didn’t allow a run — not even in the 10th inning on Saturday when Yohan Ramírez stranded the automatic runner. Heck, they only allowed three hits, walked five and struck out 10.
Was the performance enough to ease my concerns about the group? Not quite, but it was definitely a step in the right direction.
The back of the bullpen continues to look strong. If the bridge relievers can emerge, that will be a very encouraging development for the rest of the season.
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