The Pirates’ Colin Moran is called out on strikes in the fourth inning Friday night against the Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Bell, Moran hit HRs back-to-back in 9th
CHICAGO — At this simultaneously sad and strange juncture of the baseball season, it might be a race against time: Can the Pirates solve their offensive issues before the season shuts down? It certainly seems like a difficult task.
Not to mention a realistic scenario.
While much of the talk around the sport has focused on positive test results and a lack of adherence — perceived or real — to Major League Baseball’s health and safety protocols, the Pirates have stumbled through a staggering dose of negative results at the plate.
That the Pirates lost to the Chicago Cubs, 6-3, Friday night at Wrigley Field was almost immaterial. Until a couple of big swings late, their offense suffered through another sleepy night while the game still mattered.
However, as Josh Bell and Colin Moran hit back-to-back home runs off Craig Kimbrel in the ninth, it might have been an encouraging sign, even if it came in garbage time. For Bell, it was his first, a longawaited drive into the right-field seats.
Moran, meanwhile, has been one of the Pirates’ only reliable hitters thus far.
As recently as the fifth inning Friday, the Pirates had gone 13 consecutive innings without a runner in scoring position before Cole Tucker singled with two outs and stole second base.
Prior to the start of the inning, Pirates hitters had struck out in nearly half of their at-bats (19-of-40) dating back to the start of the game Wednesday game against the Mikwauykee Brewers. They had two hits during that span and saw six balls reach the outfield.
The issues for the Pirates are widespread, too.
They began the day hitting an MLBworst .171, and several of their regulars were scuffling. Four were hitting .118 or worse. In descending order, Bell is hitting .185, Jacob Stallings .118, Adam Frazier .148, Jarrod Dyson .118, Gregory Polanco .091, Bryan Reynolds .083 and Kevin Newman .050.
After a day off, it seemed like the Pirates were trying to generate something of a spark. Manager Derek Shelton finally had his top-six hitters available for the first time all season and did not bother resting anyone.
Especially when looking at the Cubs beleaguered bullpen, it looked like an opportunity where the Pirates could get right, bang the ball and score some runs.
“I think we just have to continue to work and continue to have good at-bats,” Shelton said before the game.
“And like we talked about the other night, a little bit of this has to do with the fact that we’ve faced some pretty good pitching.
“I think it’s more getting in a groove and taking good swings. We need a couple balls to fall. Reynolds had a ball fall the other day and we saw him hit the double right after that. So I think that’s what it is. Again, it gets magnified a bit when it’s at the start of the season, and then it gets magnified a little bit more when it’s at the start of a 60-game season.”
The Pirates did not get anything to fall against Cubs starter Yu Darvish, who was one of baseball’s best pitchers during the second half of the 2019 season, striking out 118 and walking just seven with a 2.76 in 13 starts.
Although Darvish wasn’t quite that good on Friday, he had no problem holding the Pirates in check.
The Cubs right-hander used six different pitches and mixed speeds effectively; the drop between his fastest and slowest was nearly 23 mph.
Trevor Williams can only blame himself on the Cubs’ first run. Third baseman Kris Bryant walked, and Williams hit first baseman Anthony Rizzo on the inside of the knee. Shortstop Javier Baez put down a bunt. Williams picked it up and threw wildly to first, allowing Bryant to score.
Two innings later, second baseman Jason Kipnis turned on a low-and-inside slider from Williams, sending it to the right-field seats for a 2-0 Cubs edge.
A slew of walks doomed the Pirates in the fifth inning, two coming from Williams. Stallings picked Rizzo off first, but Nik Turley walked the first two men he faced, loading the bases for Jason Heyward. Behind 0-2, Heyward yanked a Turley curveball into right for a two-run single, making it 4-0 Cubs.