PIRATES FALL TO TIGERS
Bizarre sequence in 8th results in defeat
A double to the gap would have been entirely too logical or linear, the norm for another poor pitching performance, especially since the Pirates earlier Sunday plucked a guy from independent ball (Henderson Alvarez) because they’re so rail-thin at the position.
But this is 2020, where normalcy and expected outcomes have gone to die, and that was readily apparent in the eighth inning of the Pirates’ 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday at PNC Park. This was, to put it mildly, a different way to go.
Figure that Richard Rodriguez came into the game with the best ERA (2.39) of any National League pitcher (minimum: 50 games) since June 1, 2019. During a 27-appearance stretch last season, Rodriguez allowed just one earned run and no extra-base hits. As much as anyone wearing a Pirates uniform these days, he’s mostly been a sure thing.
So with the Pirates and Tigers tied, 1-1,, of course Rodriguez got two outs before plunking second baseman Jonathan Schoop to give Detroit some life. Rodriguez then put a runner in scoring position by inexplicably throwing a pitch in the direction of the Pirates dugout.
After a short check to ensure Rodriguez was not hurt, the right-hander gave up a single to designated hitter Miguel Cabrera, the ball finding a hole near where shortstop Kevin Newman would have been playing in a non-shift situation.
Schoop wouldn’t have scored had it not been for the wild pitch, which appeared to be caused by Rodriguez’s cleat catching some dirt.
“It’s a freak play,” manager Derek Shelton said. “It’s unfortunate that it happened at that time, especially as well as Richie has thrown the ball. He hit Schoop with a backup slider, then caught his spike. It’s just unfortunate that it happened at that time.”
The Pirates weren’t able to get much going against Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull, who in his last time out earned his first win in a 19start stretch.
Turnbull gave Detroit seven innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits, walking two and striking out four. The Pirates finished the game with just one extrabase hit, a double from Newman in the fifth inning, while Turnbull got 11 outs on the ground.
“For our left-handers, he ran the ball away from them and got us on the pull side on the ground,” Shelton said. “When you get a guy that has the action that he does he does away from you and you do that, then you’re going to get a lot of ground-ball outs. That’s what he did. He kept us off-balance and kept us on the ground. We had a couple opportunities to score and just didn’t get the big hit.”
The loss helped the Tigers (8-5) complete the threegame sweep, as the Pirates dropped to 3-13. They’ll be off for a few days, as Major League Baseball postponed this week’s series in St. Louis.
The Pirates grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning with a key hit from their hottest player of late — Erik Gonzalez. The single scored Colin Moran, and it gave Gonzalez eight RBIs over his previous six games, in which went 11 for 24 (.458).
Gonzalez improved to 7 for 11 (.636) with runners in scoring position and 7 for 14 (.500) with runners on base.
The advantage was shortlived, as Detroit tied the score in the fifth. Right fielder Victor Reyes doubled to left and scored on a single from catcher Austin Romine.
Both hits came on sliders from Chris Stratton, who struck out six of the first eight batters he faced. Stratton used his slider a lot earlier this season, but his curveball was the more effective pitch against the Tigers.
“I think it was on today,” Stratton said of his curveball, which he used for four of his six strikeouts. “I don’t think we went into the game and were like, ‘Hey, we’re going to throw more curveballs today.’ You just go with what you have working the best that day.”
The start turned out to be a quick one for left-hander Steven Brault, who lasted just six batters and 32 pitches Friday when he struggled with his command, allowing him to pitch against Sunday.
Brault worked the first two innings against Detroit, walking one, striking out one and throwing just 26 pitches.
It definitely represented an improvement from Brault’s outing on Friday, when he didn’t record an out, walked three and allowed four earned runs.
“I put zeroes up last time. I got zero outs,“Brault said. ”So it was nice to do the opposite of that this time. But yeah, felt good. I’m glad that I was able to go out there so fast and against the same team and perform.”
The Pirates are still hitting just .209 as a team and were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position against Detroit on Sunday.
“Anytime you lose — I don’t even know how many it was … six of your top guys — it’s tough to battle with a lot of new, young faces,” Stratton said. “I’m just trying to teach ’em all that I can. There are some other guys — Richie down there, he has a few innings as well — that all you can do is try to lead them the best that you can and help them get prepared when they’re out there.
“This time is really valuable. For some guys who wouldn’t usually get a chance right now, it’s big for them to take advantage of it.”