Pirates' Tommy Pham Makes Crucial Plays vs. Cardinals

That play kept the Cardinals out of the lead and eventually allowed the Pirates to get a 1-0 win.

Pham then came through from the plate in the series finale on July 2, with RBI-singles in the second and seventh innings, putting the Pirates up 2-0 before their rally in that seventh inning secured the 5-0 victory and the sweep.

He liked his performance over this homestand, but was even more happy about getting back-to-back sweeps of good teams like the Mets and Cardinals.

“That makes it a little bit better," Pham said on the back-to-back sweeps. "Pitching was phenomenal. As you know, pitching and defense really wins games, but our offense came through this homestand.” 

Pham mentioned after his three-RBI game in the 8-3 win over the Texas Rangers at PNC Park on June 22 that he made changes to his contact lenses, which made it easier for him seeing the ball at the plate and in the outfield.

He has a rare eye disorder known as kerotaconus, which causes contorted vision, which he was diagnosed with in 2008. This requires him to wear contact lenses that give him 20/15 vision

Pham, even with this stretch of great performances, still wants more from himself, especially hitting for extra bases and showing his best hitting.

“Not much, man. I’m just trying to have quality at-bats," Pham said. "Would really like to start slugging more consistently. I’m tired of hitting singles.” 

The Pirates head out for a nine-game road series that'll end their first half of the season. They face the Seattle Mariners from July 4-6, Kansas City Royals from July 7-9 and then the Minnesota Twins from July 11-13.

Pham enjoyed the successful homestand, but knows it'll be tough for the Pirates with continuing their great offense over the last week.

“It’s not going to be easy," Pham said. "Seattle has a really good pitching staff, from my past experience, Minnesota and Kansas City are really good teams with great pitching staffs, so it’s not going to be easy. We’re gonna need a whole lot of the same things that we have going here.”