Mr. Slam Man
Go- ahead HR in seventh fuels 8th loss in row
ST LOUIS — Bizarrely, you have to be impressed by the creative ways the Pirates have managed to lose since the AllStar break. For a while, it appeared that the Pirates would salvage the series against the St. Louis Cardinals and end a sevengame losing streak. The Pirates were up by four runs heading into the seventh inning. A five- run seventh by the Cardinals sealed the Pirates fate in an 11- 9 loss Sunday at Busch Stadium.
Kyle Crick and the Pirates recorded the first out of the inning on a Dexter Fowler ground ball near first base. Josh Bell fielded it. First- base umpire Adam Harri thought the throw pulled Crick off the bag and ruled Fowler safe. The Pirates challenged the play, and it was overturned. There should’ve been two outs when Paul Goldschmidt hit a ball to shallow left field. By now, if you’ve been
watching the Pirates in this 424 free fall, you likely know what happened. The ball dropped between Pablo Reyes and Erik Gonzalez.
“We complicated things at the start of the inning,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “It was a fly ball that’s up in the air that we don’t make an out ... honestly. And look, every time we don’t take advantage of an out that’s there for us, the door just doesn’t get kicked in, but it gets shoved on us.”
Let’s call that an understatement.
Marcell Ozuna moved Goldschmidt to second with a single. Paul DeJong popped to Adam Frazier at second.
Here’s a chance to get out of the inning with no damage and an opportunity to finally win a game.
It didn’t happen. Goldschmidt and Ozuna performed a double steal. Goldschmidt’s steal was his first of the season and the 10th for Ozuna. Technically it wasn’t over yet. All Crick had to do was focus on Yairo Munoz at the plate. Get him out and it’s over. Instead, Crick hit him with a pitch to load the bases.
Inexplicably, Crick hit Andrew Knizer with a pitch to score Goldschmidt.
“The second one slipped out of my hand,” Crick said. “The first one was an overthrow on a slider that hit him. I’ve never had anything like that happen in my career.”
This might be where Hurdle would remove Crick. But, Keone Kela is serving his suspension, Fransisco Liriano pitched 1⅔ innings the previous day, and Hurdle tends only to use Felipe Vazquez in save situations. After the game Hurdle revealed that Richard Rodriguez wasn’t available and Vazquez could’ve pitched the eighth inning if needed.
Hurdle could’ve brought in Chris Stratton, who was up in the bullpen but decided against it since Crick had pitched more high- leverage situations.
“I thought Crick had the best stuff to get us out of the inning based on experience and the situation,” Hurdle said.
Lane Thomas drew a 3- 2 count against Crick. Surely, Crick was going to throw a strike here because he didn’t want to give up a walk or hit Thomas. Well, Thomas was sitting on the pitch and blasted it into the stands for a grand slam.
“I was trying to throw a heater down. I was trying to get him to hit the ball on the ground,” Crick said. “It ended up inside and thighhigh. He put a good swing on the ball and it went out of the ballpark.”
Geoff Hartlieb allowed a two- run home run to Fowler in the eighth.
Clay Holmes made his return from the injured list with two outs in the eighth to keep the score at 11- 8.
Goldschmidt had four hits, including a two- run home run off Steven Brault. Goldschmidt has seven home runs against the Pirates this season.
Reyes hit the sixth home run of the game in the top of the ninth to make it 11- 9.
Bryan Reynolds recorded his ninth game with three hits. It also was the third time he has hit two doubles in a contest.
Josh Bell hit two home runs in the game; his first home runs since July 5 and his first multiple home run game since July 1. Bell hit well in the series with three hits Sunday and two Friday. Bell gave the Pirates a 2- 0 lead in the first inning and his fifth- inning home run put the Pirates up, 6- 4. Bell hit the first to right off Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas. His second against Mikolas went to left. Both were walloped.
Bell starting to bounce back from his slump is one of the few positive signs the Pirates take out of another sweep by the Cardinals.
The Pirates are on an eight- game skid as they travel to Anaheim, Calif., to take on the Los Angeles Angels.