Sad song remains the same
Pirates lose ninth game in a row as bats are stifled
MILWAUKEE — The Pirates have been bad. That’s not a shot. It’s not conjecture, either. After a 4-3 loss Sunday to the Brewers at Miller Park, they now have dropped nine consecutive game by a combined score of 87-26. Their opponents have hit 24 home runs. The Pirates have hit one.
But for much of this particular game, it looked as if the Pirates might wind up making some history for their futility, as the Brewers flirted with throwing the first combined perfect game in Major League Baseball history.
The historic moment never came, as Bryan Reynolds singled in the seventh inning on a ground ball that barely eluded Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia. The Pirates rallied late, too, but it wasn’t enough.
“We’re not hitting the mistakes, and they’re not making a lot of ’em,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Their bullpen handled us. We got close, but we couldn’t get ahead of ‘em.”
The Pirates (65-91) now have dropped three consecutive series. Their most recent victory came Sept. 12 at San Francisco, while this ninegame stretch is tied for the longest of the season (July 2129).
With nothing but Reynolds’ single through seven innings, the Pirates finally got something going in the eighth.
Jacob Stallings and Erik Gonzalez singled with two outs before pinch-hitter Melky Cabrera hit what looked to be an inning-ending grounder to short. But Arcia didn’t get his glove down and ran past the ball, allowing Stallings to score.
That’s when the Brewers brought in their All-Star closer, Josh Hader. Runs against Hader are rare, although Cole Tucker dumped a single into right-center field to score two and cut the deficit to one.
Hader bounced back nicely in the ninth, looking more like himself and striking out the side.
“You tip your hat to the guys on their side today,” Pirates starting pitcher Trevor Williams said. “They used their bullpen effectively.”
Through six innings, it certainly looked like a perfect game or a no-hitter would be possible, if not likely.
Of the first 18 outs the Pirates made, only two balls reached the outfield and eight outs came via strikeout. Starter Brandon Woodruff went two scoreless. Jay Jackson went one and fired a couple of nasty sliders. Gio Gonzalez gobbled up 3⅓ innings, though he was the guy he allowed Reynolds’ hit.
“There’s nobody who came out there limping for Milwaukee,” Hurdle said. “All those arms are fresh, and they’re real.”
The Brewers built their lead with a series of home runs, including solo shots in the second and fourth innings.
Arcia hit the first one, making solid contact on a slider at the bottom of the zone. Brewers first baseman Eric Thames got the first of his two dingers on the day when he crushed a Williams mistake — an elevated fourseamer — 413 feet out to rightcenter field.
“I thought I executed a lot of pitches,” Williams said. “The one mis-executed pitch I thought was to Thames.”
Williams’ outing was an encouraging sign, even though it was cut short. Hurdle lifted Williams for a pinch-hitter, Kevin Newman, when Williams’ spot came up in the top of the sixth.
Hurdle felt bad about making the decision, seeing the quality work that Williams had turned in to that point. But he didn’t want to let the whole perfect game/no-hitter thing snowball.
“I know he didn’t want to come out,” Hurdle said. “I didn’t want to take him out. There comes a point in time where I need to do what I feel is best for the structure of the game. We need to respect the game and try to win the game.”
Thames homered for the second time in the game after Michael Feliz entered in the sixth inning, getting under a 94-mph four-seamer and driving it out to right-center field.
If there’s anything to take away from this game — that sort of stuff has been hard to come by with the Pirates lately — it’s what Williams gave them.
Outside of the two home runs, Williams was very effective against an elite lineup; the Brewers, even without Christian Yelich, are flat-out good. They’ve won 16 games already in September.
“They’re playing for something,” Williams said. “They’re playing for not only a wild-card spot, but trying to win the division as well.