Reds sweep listless Pirates
three runs in 21 innings against the Boston Red Sox, the Pirates got a reprieve at home against the Atlanta Braves. They scored 17 runs in 26 innings in a threegame sweep. Then the Reds came to town, and the Pirates scored five runs in three losses.
“Seventy-two hours, we’re having completely different conversations. … Seventy-two hours ago, we’re in here high-fiving, it’s a big comeback win, and now three days later the train has changed,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “Yes, it’s changed. They pitched extremely well. They played extremely well, they swung the bats extremely well. Young team with athleticism and adrenaline.”
The road ahead gets harder. After traveling late Wednesday to Boston for a makeup game Thursday against the Red Sox, the Pirates head to Chicago, where they’ll see Cubs starters Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester.
“We’ve got to forget about those last three days and be ready to go tomorrow,” said starter Ivan Nova, who allowed four runs, three earned, in six innings.
In 2016, facing Cincinnati would have likely meant good things for Pirates batters. The 2016 Reds pitching staff was the only one in Major League Baseball to record, as a unit, negative Wins Above Replacement. Their 4.91 ERA ranked 27th, and their 3.97 walks per nine and 1.61 homers allowed per nine were last. The bullpen was even worse — a 5.09 ERA, worse than everyone but the Colorado Rockies, and minus-3.6 WAR.
This year’s staff looks different. The rotation features young pitchers such as Wednesday starter Amir Garrett, Rookie Davis and Brandon Finnegan. Two converted starters, Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen, are in the bullpen, as is veteran Drew Storen.
“They’ve got two young left-handers. There might be more power as far as fastball velocity,” Hurdle said. “Storen gives them a different-look guy. He almost pitches backward, some experience. There’s some youth out there. You’ve got to like the arms, you’ve got to like the skills that they have, especially early, the versatility of the bullpen.”
The issues with runners on base hardly mattered Wednesday against Garrett, who allowed two runs in 6⅔3 innings and allowed one runner to reach second before Freese’s homer.
“Amir did a great job. He’s got a big arm,” Freese said. “It plays harder than it says on the gun. You can tell he’s thinking out there with [catcher] Tucker [Barnhart], kind of one pitch ahead, one step ahead. If he hits his spot, they know where to go next.”
One out away from a clean inning, Antonio Bastardo made a mess in the seventh. He walked two batters to load the bases before allowing a three-run double to Eugenio Suarez. Bastardo has allowed a run in all four of his appearances and has not finished the inning in two of them.
“We need all of them out there contributing, and it’s been hard for Antonio right now,” Hurdle said. “We’ll look at some things again.”