Slugfest ends in 17-13 loss
Bad bullpen too much to overcome
The Pirates like to talk about their never-say-die attitude, the fight that often shows up late in games.
While many of their runs have been scored during garbage time, they do have a point. The Pirates have shown an ability to rally.
They’ve also seen their bullpen endure plenty of struggles this season, both when it comes to pitch-execution and personnel.
Those issues were on display Friday against the Detroit Tigers at PNC Park, as the Pirates got a strong start from Chad Kuhl, plenty of offense (especially late), but ultimately suffered a 17-13 loss in 11 innings.
The reason was simple: The bullpen simply isn’t good or healthy enough right now to compete. Manager Derek Shelton is trying to push buttons and get guys rest, although the obsession with Miguel Del Pozo is a little weird.
The reality, though, is that the Pirates are asking an awful lot out of a group of pitchers who started the season at their satellite camp. Friday, as Erik Gonzalez, Phillip Evans and Adam Frazier supplied the punch, Pittsburgh’s relievers encountered plenty of issues.
The Tigers finally put this one away with four runs in the top of the 11th inning. Jeimer Candelario and Austin Romine delivered one-run singles before Niko Goodrum’s double scored two.
Dovydas Neverauskas, the seventh Pirates reliever of the night, gave up all four runs.
The Pirates’ ninth-inning rally to tie the game and force extra innings started with a single from Bryan Reynolds, who would score on Evans’ third hit of the game.
Reynolds finished with three hits in one of his best games of the season, while Evans contributed a career-high four RBIs.
Bench coach Don Kelly — manager Derek Shelton had been ejected for complaining about a (legitimate) missed strike call in the seventh inning — followed Evans’ single by having Jarrod Dyson pinch run.
That quickly became moot, as Frazier homered to tie the game at 12, forcing extra innings. Terrific swing from Frazier, too. Two-seamer low, and he blasted it 408 feet to center.
The late innings have certainly been fertile ground for the Pirates so far this season. Before Friday, they had scored 28 of their 45 runs this season in the seventh inning or later (62%) while homering four times alone in the ninth inning.
Kevin Newman’s walk-off single Thursday was just the latest evidence of their willingness to battle until the end.
The first part of this comeback came an inning earlier, as Gonzalez doubled to right field, scoring a pair of runs. It was necessary because of the debacle that occurred for the Pirates bullpen in the seventh inning, with the Tigers scoring six runs.
With the Pirates clinging to a one-run lead, Kelly lifted Yacksel Rios for Del Pozo, who had walked eight of the 14 batters he had faced prior to Friday’s outing. Furthermore, Del Pozo had allowed four earned runs while recording just five outs.
Del Pozo didn’t fare much better against the Tigers, as he allowed three consecutive singles that netted four runs, Detroit jumping in front, 10-7. The pitches Christin Stewart and Candelario hit were awful. The one Victor Reyes got was only marginally better.
But Del Pozo’s evening didn’t end there. In fact, it wasn’t even half-over. The Pirates actually allowed Del Pozo to finish the inning and pitch to four more batters, one of whom (Goodrum) doubled to score two more runs.
It’s hard to talk about this one without pointing out what Evans and Gonzalez did. And what they’ve been doing. Given the opportunity to earn more playing time, they’ve absolutely taken it. Evans started the game having reached base safely in eight of nine starts this season, while Gonzalez was 5-for-11 in his previous three.
After the Tigers enjoyed a four-run fifth — the product of a single and three bases-loaded walks issued by Steven Brault and Geoff Hartlieb — Evans picked a terrific time for his first major-league home run. The three-run shot pushed the Pirates back in front, 7-5.