Pirates losing streak at 7
Bats remain silent as team squanders effort by starting pitcher Williams
Through the first 12 games of the season, starting pitching has hardly been the Pirates’ biggest problem. Health and hitting, sure. The bullpen has certainly been an issue, while defense and fundamentals have lacked at times, too.
But even though Pirates starting pitchers came into Wednesday’s game with fewer innings logged (47 to 49⅔) than the team’s relievers, by and large, they’ve given the team a chance to win.
Trevor Williams did that and then some Wednesday, his efficient and aggressive outing giving the Pirates their best pitching performance of the year, although it mattered little in a 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins at PNC Park.
The Pirates have now dropped seven in a row, pretty much all of them for the same reason: They’re not generating nearly enough offense.
“It’s easy to say we’re struggling offensively, and I’m not going to shy away from that. We are,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We’re also talking about a small sample.
“Like we’ve talked about, it gets magnified [in a shortened season]. We have to get better. We’re going to continue to work on it. Once it gets rolling, it’s gonna be fun to watch.”
It’s hard to imagine Williams pitching any better than he did against the Twins (10-2). And it still wasn’t enough.
After his last start — 4⅔ innings against the Cubs on July 31 — Williams talked about wanting to challenge hitters. Getting ahead in the count wasn’t an issue, but he didn’t like how much he tried to nibble.
Williams went right after a stacked lineup.
The best example of that came in the sixth inning, when Williams struck out Twins designated hitter Nelson Cruz with an elevated four-seamer.
Also extremely effective for Williams was his changeup, which he used in the fourth inning to induce a goofy-looking swing from Twins center fielder Jake Cave.
“One thing to really put in perspective was his ability to execute putaway pitches,” Shelton said. “I think we had seen that in previous starts, where he got himself into good counts, then all of a sudden counts got back to 2-2 or 3-2. I thought he did a much better job tonight.”
The only run Minnesota scored off Williams came in the second inning. Williams hit center field Jake Jake Cave to lead off, and he would score on a bloop single from first baseman Marwin Gonzalez after the initial ruling was reversed.
Williams would retire 13 in a row from the third inning through a seventh-inning double from second baseman Luis Arraez, which Williams washed away as he struck out catcher Mitch Garver swinging on a sinker for his fifth punch of the night.
Williams threw 98 pitches, 63 for strikes.
“Bouncing off of what I saw from them the last two games, showing how Derek [Holland] attacked the zone, he gave me a lot of good info to continue to pound the zone,” Williams said. “We’re gonna put them on their heels. It was effective to watch, effective to see.”
One big problem for the Pirates (2-10) was local boy Randy Dobnak, the South Park native making his first career start at PNC Park.
Dobnak and his Oakley glasses and Fu Manchu mustache came out of nowhere last year to help the Twins win the American League Central division, and this year he’s been battling for a spot in Minnesota’s rotation.
What he did Wednesday against the Pirates figures to help that cause.
Like Williams, Dobnak didn’t beat around the bush. He went right after the Pirates with a bunch of sinkers, attacking the zone and getting the Pirates to pound the ball into the ground.
Dobnak gave the Twins six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and walking none. He struck out just one and recorded 11 groundball outs before Twins manager Rocco Baldelli went to his bullpen with Dobnak at just 71 pitches (46 strikes).
“You tip your hat to Dobnak as well,” Williams said. “He was doing the same things. So when two pitchers get rolling like that, it makes for a fun pitching matchup. To be on the other side of that, when both guys are working fast, it’s ideal when you’re pitching.”
One encouraging sign for the Pirates came from Bell, who picked up three hits and hit his second home run of the year in the bottom of the ninth. Bell stayed through the ball and gave the Pirates’ offense a spark it sorely needs.