Another blowout loss
10-1 loss is 90th, most since 2011
Pirates humbled again, losing 10-1 to Brewers in Milwaukee.
MILWAUKEE — Joe Musgrove has been on the other side of this stuff before, the lopsided losses, the meaningless outcomes, the dreaded chance to play spoiler. Which is why it might be wise for some of the Pirates’ younger players to saddle up next to Musgrove and listen to what he has to say.
There’s valuable experience there coming from someone who played for the Astros and has a World Series ring.
The Pirates lost a game Saturday, 10-1, to the Brewers at Miller Park, but the story with this team now is hardly how it lost or that things are just plain rotten right now. The players are trying and people certainly care, but getting beaten so often, and by so much, is inherently frustrating.
The story with the Pirates — aside from who stays and goes after the season concludes — is what they do with these lessons, the experience some of them are gaining during a brutal September.
“Obviously you never want to lose games,” Musgrove said. “You always want to win. I think for us the most important thing is growth right now. We have to try and pull something out this last week here.
“It’s tough when you’re getting beat by 10 runs every night, but that doesn’t change the goal. That shouldn’t change our outlook on the day when we come in here; everyone is trying to get better at something, trying to work, just keep moving forward.”
The search for results comes in all shapes and sizes. From James Marvel starting and trying to figure things out to the mish-mash of bodies in the bullpen and trying to find someone who sticks. So far there has been no discernible progress made on either front, which has to make the losing that much more frustrating.
“You’d like to think so,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said about the possibility of discovering a few good bullpen arms. “I don’t know how much more time is left to claim ownership, but we see things where we’re attracted to guys.
“There’s going to be an external look. There’s going to be an internal look based on what we saw from the people we had here. However, it’s no doubt that it’s been one of the areas that’s been most complicated for us throughout the season.”
What did the Pirates learn Saturday against the Brewers? Well, not much.
Marvel did not have the start he wanted, his third of four to try and earn a spot in the starting rotation for next season. The right-hander didn’t enjoy a 1-2-3 inning and gave up five earned runs on six hits and two walks over 3⅓ innings.
Hurdle wondered what happened to Marvel’s curveball since his MLB debut and also some of his overall command. It lacked in the fourth inning when Marvel seemed to tire and had problems communicating with Elias Diaz on signs.
“They stretched him out,” Hurdle said of Marvel. “He hasn’t had the same curveball that he had in his debut. You don’t know whether that was adrenaline or he’s pitched a lot of innings, where he is. Stuff hasn’t been as sharp the last two times out as it was his first time out.”
The loss dropped the Pirates record to 65-90 — their first 90-loss season since 2011. The Pirates are one loss away from tying their season-long nine-game losing streak.
The Pirates now have coughed up 10 or more runs in 31 games this season, the most since the 1999 Colorado Rockies (34).