FRIENDLY FIRE
Former teammate Williams gives up single run in six innings of work
Former teammate Trevor Williams had one of his best outings of the season Wednesday in helping the Cubs beat the Pirates, 4-1, at PNC Park.
Even a pitcher the Pirates know like the back of their hand couldn’t ignite their offense, which has been hibernating for the better part of this month.
Old friend Trevor Williams stuck it to his former team on Wednesday, delivering six innings of one-run ball, and the Pirates’ bats again stayed silent during a 4-1 loss to the Cubs at PNC Park.
It was the fifth consecutive defeat for the Pirates, who have also dropped eight of nine. They’re just 617 in May, 18-30 overall and what feels like miles away from their high point of the season; they were 12-11 on April 27 but have dropped 19 of 25 since.
What Williams did reversed his recent trend, where he failed to complete five innings in any of his previous May starts, had a 5.97 ERA during the month and was walking a careerworst 4.8 batters per nine innings on the season.
The right-hander also had not fared terribly well against his former team in 2021, allowing seven earned runs over two starts totaling 7⅓ innings.
None of that mattered Wednesday, as Williams walked none and made short work of the Pirates, who did what many teams that struggle against Williams often do: make a boatload of weak contact.
The Pirates had just four hard-hit balls (95 mph or more) against Williams. Two of those went for outs. Williams dotted the strike zone with five different pitches, including relatively equal usage of his changeup, curveball, slider and sinker, a wrinkle since his Pirates days.
As good as Williams was, the Pirates got the opposite: a lousy start from Wil Crowe, who recorded just four outs and struggled with his control for much of the night, leaving far too many pitches in the middle of the strike zone.
It was easily the worst outing for Crowe this season, who wound up allowing three runs on five hits and two walks over 1⅓. Could Chad Kuhl take Crowe’s spot the next time around?
Perhaps. Then again, the Pirates aren’t going to win much with their offense functioning as poorly as it has in May, the club entering Wednesday’s game last in OPS (.615), runs (60), home runs (10) and slugging percentage (.324).
Crowe’s control issues were evident from the first inning, when he walked center fielder Ian Happ with two outs. Fortunately for the Pirates, he escaped trouble by freezing catcher Willson Contreras on a well-located fastball, stranding two.
Crowe wasn’t so lucky the next inning. After walking the leadoff man, left fielder Rafael Ortega, the Pirates pitcher missed his spot with a 2-2 fastball to third baseman David Bote, leaving one middle-middle that Bote crunched 413 feet over the fence in center field.
The issues didn’t stop there for Crowe, either. He allowed singles to second baseman Eric Sogard and Williams before first baseman Kris Bryant upped the Cubs’ lead to 3-0 by lining a single to center field.
That, too, was a poorly located pitch, this time a 3-1 fastball that Crowe left right in the heart of the strike zone.
The lack of execution was enough for Pirates manager Derek Shelton, who emerged from the dugout and pulled his starter after just 49 pitches. Shelton turned to Duane Underwood Jr., who did an excellent job to steady things for the Pirates.
The right-hander got two quick outs to strand a pair of runners in the second inning before working three more scoreless frames. It was a much-needed dose of positivity for Underwood Jr., who has now delivered back-to-back scoreless outings after a stretch where he was scored upon in five of eight, pitching to a 7.71 ERA.
Chicago picked up a fourth run after Underwood Jr. exited, spoiling Chris Stratton’s scoreless streak in May. Stratton had logged 10 consecutive innings without allowing a run until Bryant shot a fullcount fastball — a pitch that was off the plate — into right, scoring Sogard.
The Pirates’ only early offense was a first-inning triple by Ben Gamel, which probably should have been scored an error when Joc Pederson misplayed the ball in right field.
Gamel was left standing on third base after the inning ended following Bryan Reynolds’ popout to short and a groundout to third from Jacob Stallings.
Wednesday marked the 16th time in their past 22 games the Pirates have failed to score more than two runs.