Trevor Richards was determined not to let his first couple of major league starts define him, coming out strong against what had been a hot Pirates lineup.

Trevor Richards is dominating. Ground balls, pop-ups and very little else. Living at the bottom of the strike zone.



Shutout thru 6 innings (and only 71 pitches). pic.twitter.com/DrhW9SH6Nk — Fish Stripes (@fishstripes) April 15, 2018

Richards would ultimately go seven full innings, giving up a scant two hits with one walk and two strikeouts to his name. An excellent performance that should keep his name in the hat as far as future starts are concerned.

Unfortunately, the Marlins could not muster anything against Jameson Taillon and then the Pirates bullpen, which gave an opening for the buccos to get to Brad Ziegler in the ninth (assisted by the notorious defensive chops of Starlin Castro, who misplayed a bunt to get the rally going). The Marlins could not counter, and there you have it.

It should be noted that Drew Steckenrider pitched a clean eighth and now has seven scoreless appearances under his belt to start 2018.

Ivan Nova will clash with Jose Urena in tomorrow’s finale at 1:10 pm.

Swordfish: Trevor Richards (.438)

Flounder: Brad Ziegler

Play of the game: Josh Bell ninth inning single advancing Starling Marte to third (.182)

Attendance: 26,816

Place yo Itchy picks down below (explainer)

Pitching Matchup Name Team IP ERA FIP K/9 fWAR Name Team IP ERA FIP K/9 fWAR Ivan Nova Pirates 17.1 5.19 4.68 6.75 0 Jose Urena Marlins 16 5.06 4.75 7.31 0.1

Today's Lineups PITTSBURGH PIRATES MIAMI MARLINS Josh Harrison - 2B Derek Dietrich - LF Gregory Polanco - RF Miguel Rojas - SS Starling Marte - CF Starlin Castro - 2B Josh Bell - 1B Justin Bour - 1B Corey Dickerson - LF Brian Anderson - 3B Francisco Cervelli - C J.B. Shuck - RF Colin Moran - 3B Lewis Brinson - CF Jordy Mercer - SS Bryan Holaday - C Jameson Taillon - RHP Trevor Richards - RHP

Matchup Summary:

Jameson Taillon has really come into his own as a pitcher and was probably a big reason the Pirates (9-4) felt comfortable trading Gerrit Cole. He’s a tough draw for the Marlins (4-9), who will counter with Trevor Richards in their bid to win back to back games for the first time this year (the Fish were victorious 7-2 in game one of the series).

Thread Question:

There was admittedly a bit of a hype train (as much as there can be for an undrafted pitcher, anyway) for Trevor Richards before he debuted. Will he turn it around and meet some of those initial expectations?