Pirates lose 8th in a row
Mets score 6 runs in first off Archer, sweep series, 8- 7
NEW YORK — A little over an hour after general manager Neal Huntington acknowledged that the team wouldn’t be looking to add to the current roster, last year’s significant addition — Chris Archer — struggled in a first inning everyone involved with the Pirates would surely like to forget.
“I came out extremely passive. I wasn’t pitching like myself,” Archer said Sunday after an 8- 7 loss to the New York Mets at Citi Field. “My stuff was flat. It wasn’t a matter of my delivery; it was my mentality. Unacceptable. I know how to come out and attack. I’ve done a good job of that in the last month but I took a step back today.”
Archer is 0- 2 with a 5.87 ERA in four starts since the All- Star break.
The Pirates ( 46- 59) almost overcame a six- run first inning in the loss, their eighth in a row and 10th in the past 11 games. The Pirates got swept by the St. Louis Cardinals ( four games) and the Mets ( three) in back- to- back series.
Archer hit leadoff hitter Jeff McNeil with his third pitch of the game. McNeil later exited the game with a shin contusion but not before rounding the bases on a Michael Conforto two- run home run. Archer followed with a walk to Peter Alonso, and then got Robinson Cano to ground into a force out when Jung Ho Kang threw out Alonso at second.
But Archer walked Wilson Ramos and then threw a wild pitch in Todd Frazier’s at- bat to move the runners to second and third. Frazier drove in Cano with a single, and Ramos scored on J. D. Davis’ single for a 5- 0 lead with one out. By the time the inning was over Archer had allowed six runs, walked two, hit a batter and allowed a home run. Archer threw 48 pitches and faced 10 hitters in the inning.
Archer’s chances also were hurt when Kang didn’t properly field a throw to third when Jason Vargas bunted toward the mound. Instead of having two outs and runners at first and second, the bases were loaded. Sure enough, Aaron Altherr, pinch- hitting for McNeil, hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Vargas for the sixth run. The inning finally ended when Archer struck out Conforto.
“I was trying to place the ball instead of trying to drive the ball through the strike zone,” Archer said. “When you do that even if you do have decent movement, it isn’t as crisp. The pitches don’t have as much bite. The fastball doesn’t have that late bite.
“In the big leagues these guys are too good. You have to be on from pitch one, not turn it on 50 pitches later.”
As brutal as the first inning was, Archer was able to go five innings, throwing 107 pitches but didn’t surrender a run in his final four innings.
“They were trying to push him off the mound and he put his foot down and didn’t let that happen,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “He threw strikes and kept us from having to overuse the bullpen. We were able to save some key pitchers for the next series.”
Jacob Stallings got the Pirates on the board with a solo home run off Vargas in the third. Stallings also singled in the fourth, moving Adam Frazier, who singled, to third and he scored on Conforto’s throwing error. Stallings advanced to second on the error, but hesitated on Archer’s ground- ball single to left field and could not score.
“The shortstop broke for a back- pick from the catcher,” Hurdle said. “There was a voice command for him to get back. If there is a swing and miss there is a chance he gets picked off so he has to go back.”
Archer’s single rolled past where Amed Rosario would’ve been without the pickoff attempt.
Melky Cabrera doubled in the fifth to drive in Starling Marte to make it 6- 3, but the Mets added two runs in the sixth.
Facing an 8- 3 deficit, the Pirates scored four runs in the ninth on two- run home runs from Bryan Reynolds and Jose Asuna, but could not pick up the tying run as Cabrera fouled out and Frazier grounded out.
Once again the Pirates dug a hole and nearly got out of it. Doesn’t that sound like the theme of the 2019 season?
“You have to have a sense of reality, but you need to remain optimistic. The harsh reality is we haven’t played well for two weeks,” Hurdle said. “The optimism is, as I said, there’s been six games that we could have won along the way and that flips the record with one hit or one well- placed out.”
Around the horn
Josh Bell didn’t play Sunday, but was in the on- deck circle in the ninth inning. Hurdle confirmed that the off day was preplanned. … Corey Dickerson, who was injured Friday, would’ve been able to pinch- hit. The Pirates are hoping Dickerson can be a bench player Monday, and he is hoping to return to the starting lineup Tuesday. … Marte’s ninthinning single was the 1,000th hit of his career. He is the 11th player to collect at least 1,000 hits and 100 home runs with the Pirates.