CINCINNATI — The Pirates couldn't quite piece together what went wrong in their 7-2 loss to the Reds on Wednesday night.
Jameson Taillon thought his changeup was breaking as well as it had during his first five starts this season, yet his inability to finish off hitters with two strikes eventually led to a pair of three-run homers for the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
The rest of the Pirates, meanwhile, were left wondering how they stranded eight runners against a rookie starting pitcher with only 24 innings of experience at AAA.
"That’s baseball for you," Josh Harrison said. "Some nights they fall and some nights they don’t. That’s the name of the game. We had our chances tonight."
The result was particularly frustrating for Taillon. The 25-year-old right-hander entered Wednesday with a 2-0 record and a 2.08 ERA, striking out 24 batters in 30 1/3 innings by being both efficient and aggressive. He quickly unraveled in his sixth start of the season though.
In the first inning, Taillon allowed a single to Zack Cozart after being ahead in the count with two strikes and walked Joey Votto on five pitches, failing to locate his four-seam fastball on the outside corner. He then got down 2-0 to Eugenio Suarez and the third pitch of the at-bat was a changeup low and outside.
Not low enough, though.
Suarez was able to pull it and the line-drive sailed over the wall in left field for a three-run homer and the second night in a row the Pirates trailed 3-0 in the first inning:
"He wasn't sharp tonight," Clint Hurdle said afterward. "Probably a combination of them hitting some pitches that didn't get to the spots he wanted them to get to. Three-run homers played big tonight for them. Overall, though, his fastball was up more than it was sinking."
Taillon saw it differently. He voiced his frustration with that pitch afterward, saying his changeup was supposed to be out of the strike zone. But he was even more frustrated with the result because of how he felt on the mound.
"Stuff was great tonight," he said. "That’s why it’s tough. You only have a handful of nights here where you feel that good and crisp and clean."
He showed that in the second inning. After allowing a leadoff single to Jose Peraza — another at-bat where Taillon was ahead with two strikes — Taillon got three consecutive strikeouts, the third on a curveball against Billy Hamilton:
An inability to put away a hitter bit him again in the fourth. After allowing another leadoff single to Peraza, Taillon got ahead 1-2 on Devin Mesoraco but his fastball with two strikes road in on the Mesoraco and hit him.
One pitch later, Hamilton cranked a high and inside four-seam fastball down the right-field line for a three-run homer and a 6-0 lead. Taillon was dominant when ahead in the count during his first five starts this season. Opponents were batting .125 in an 0-2 count and .091 when down 1-2 against Taillon.
Taillon spoke about what he thinks could have gone wrong Wednesday night:
