PIRATES FALL TO CUBS
Pirates drop rain-interrupted game in extra innings to fall to 2-7
CHICAGO — Offense in baseball can often function as Febreze — it masks the ugly stuff.
Sunday in Chicago, as the Pirates tried to avoid a Cubs sweep at Wrigley Field, there was no such odor eliminator. That has been the case for much of the season.
The Pirates technically lost to the Cubs, 2-1, in 11 innings when Chicago’s Javier Baez smoked a Cody Ponce offering up the middle that allowed David Bote to easily jog home from third base.
But one hit did the trick because the Pirates weren’t able to score after Kevin Newman’s solo homer in the first inning, even against a wobbly Cubs bullpen that entered Sunday’s game lugging around an MLB-worst 9.75 ERA.
“We’re right there,” Jacob Stallings said. “It’s all you can ask for at the end of the game, to be right there and have a chance to win. We’re just not pulling ’em out.”
No, they certainly are not. The Pirates have dropped seven of their nine games thus far, the equivalent of a 5-19 start in a normal season. They’re hitting .177 as a team, and their best batting average belongs to Phillip Evans (.316).
Furthermore, the Pirates now have four pitchers on the 10-day injured list and have been missing another one since the start of spring training 2.0 because of COVID-19, although Keone Kela is apparently on his way back.
It has been anything but a smooth ride for the Pirates, which means that with a razor-thin margin for error, even the tiniest decisions often matter.
Sunday was one of those games.
The big moment in this one came in the top of the 10th inning. With Stallings starting at second base, Josh Bell got things going with a single. Should manager Derek Shelton have pinch-run for Stallings? Perhaps, although his two options were John Ryan Murphy and Gregory Polanco.
Shelton said he didn’t want to risk potential injury with Polanco on a “wet track” after a 64-minute rain relay.
After Bell shot his base hit into left, Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber made a strong throw that nailed Stallings by a good bit. The Pirates argued that the ensuing collision at home occurred because Stallings had nowhere else to go. The umpires did not agree, affirming that Stallings was out and telling the Pirates catcher he should’ve tried to slide.
“I was 10-15 feet up the line,” Stallings said. “I’m not going to slide all the way out there. But that’s the rule.”
It was also an aggressive send by third-base coach Joey Cora, some might say a little too aggressive. Had Stallings held up, the Pirates would have had three cracks to score a runner from third with nobody out.
Shelton, however, had no issue with Cora’s aggressiveness there.
“I think we give more credit to Schwarber,” Shelton said. “He made a hell of a throw. The throw had to be right on the money.
“I think Joey does a hell of a job over there. He’s aggressive. He’s consistent. I think he’s one of the better third-base coaches in baseball, so no problem with that send.”
An inning later, the Pirates made a definite mistake when Newman ran into an out at third base, taking himself out of scoring position when he was thrown out by Baez.
The right play there is to wait, allow the throw to cross the infield, then try to advance. You never make the first or third out at third because of outs left and the fact that you’re still in scoring position.
The Pirates’ lack of consistent offense puts a spotlight on every single pitching performance and decision made by Shelton, whereas a few three-run homers here and there might enable everyone to look the other way.
Sunday, let’s start with Steven Brault, who was perfect through three innings while striking out four. Before the season and coming off recurring shoulder issues, Shelton decided he would use Brault and Chad Kuhl in a piggyback situation, knowing this could happen.
Brault was cruising, but the Pirates — like it or hate it — didn’t want Brault’s start-to-start jump to be more than one inning. So Shelton pulled the plug on Brault and turned to Kuhl, who lasted just 1⅓ innings.
Turns out Kuhl has an abrasion to the cuticle of his right index finger, and it was causing him considerable pain, enough that the Pirates also worried about Kuhl overcompensating with his mechanics and risking further injury.
Bottom line, there were reasonable calls for Brault to stick around, but Shelton’s move looked worse because there’s absolutely no wiggle room right now.
“We knew exactly where he was going to be at,“
Shelton said of Brault. ”The fact that he had only thrown two innings the last time because of the rain delay, no way were we going to extend it.”
Brault also said he was fine with the early hook.
“I understand Shelty’s trying to keep me healthy, trying to build me up,” Brault said. “I’m totally down [with it]. I want to be a starter. I know he knows that. I feel like I’d rather be safe and make sure I don’t aggravate anything.”
That move ultimately backfired on Shelton when, as Kuhl’s finger started to cause him issues, Willson Contreras and Schwarber roped back-to-back doubles to make it a 1-1 game.
A Shelton decision in the ninth was tied to a pitcher’s health. Shelton planned on bringing Nick Burdi into the game ... until a sudden rain came a little earlier than expected. Burdi never pitched, but was officially announced into the game.
After the hourlong rain delay, Shelton didn’t want to risk it and turned things over to Sam Howard and Ponce. With Burdi out, the Pirates were forced to turn to a pair of guys who had been working out in Altoona and only joined the club for this trip as part of the taxi squad.
Howard fared well, tossing two scoreless innings, but Ponce was forced to make his MLB debut in less-than-ideal circumstances and Baez delivered the walkoff for the Cubs.
“I thought [Ponce] did a good job. He came in and threw strikes,” Shelton said.