PHILADELPHIA — Winning six of 10 put the Pirates in position to regain some relevance in the Central Division before the All-Star break.
Four games back, they hosted the Giants for a three-game series over the weekend, an opponent sitting 21 games under .500, followed by a four-game series here against the Phillies, Major League Baseball’s worst team at 27-56.
Well, the Pirates made a move. Right on their collective face.
By getting blanked by the Phillies, 4-0, Monday night at Citizens Bank Park, they've now lost the first four games of that stretch, dropped to a season-low nine games under .500 and are now seven back in the Central after the Brewers won.
Yet, there was not a sense of urgency inside a quiet visitors' clubhouse.
"We know where we are," Josh Harrison said. "The minute that you feel that you gotta win eight, 10 in a row, that’s the minute that you look up and you’ve lost 15 in a row."
Ivan Nova grinded through six innings, allowing a pair of two-run homers, and his offense did little to back him, mustering only four hits and striking out nine times.
As a team, the Giants and Phillies rank 22nd and 24th, respectively, in ERA, yet the Pirates have batted .194 over the past four games. They've stranded 35 runners on base and are 4 for 32 with runners in scoring position, including 0 for 7 Monday. The top four hitters in the lineup went a combined 1 for 15 with four strikeouts, and Harrison, Adam Frazier and Josh Bell are 5 for 42 over the past four games. The Pirates are now 26th in the majors with a .242 average.
An opportunity has been spoiled thus far. So how critical are the final six games before the break?
"What we like to do is take care of things in here and play games," Clint Hurdle snapped back when asked that question. "You all can figure out who we are as a team and what we should do at the All-Star break. That’s kind of the way it gets played out. When you talk to people, those kind of things are external noise. You just have to play the game. We have to play better. We need to play better. We need to figure some things out for more consistency because we’re in the hunt."
Nova's line was less than ideal, allowing seven hits and walking one. Freddy Galvis hit a two-run homer off him in the first, and Maikel Franco's came in the third. Nova retired nine of the next 10 batters.
His fastball was elevated on both home runs and the Phillies made hard contact against him through the first four innings. Aside from his six scoreless innings against the Marlins on June 11, Nova has a 4.50 ERA since winning the National League Pitcher of the Month for April and he has allowed 10 home runs in those 11 starts.
"You can’t put your head down," Nova said. "You have to keep going and keep fighting. This is the only way we can go through tough times. You have to keep fighting."
Nova has been the anchor of the starting rotation since being acquired at the trade deadline last season, effectively taking on the role as the staff ace. That is necessary with Gerrit Cole having allowed seven runs in three of his past six starts, raising his ERA to 4.51.
As a whole, the rotation has treaded water, combining for a 4.07 ERA, which is the 15th-lowest in the majors. But a start like Nova's on Monday, Harrison said, should be enough to put the Pirates in position to win.
"Nova did a good job of battling through the first couple innings and kept us where we needed to be," he said. "We just fell short."
How many more times can the Pirates afford to fall short against such opponents? After the All-Star break, they have seven games against the Cardinals and Brewers before embarking on a nine-game West Coast trip.
That will end with the trade deadline at 4 p.m. on July 31 — 40 minutes before first pitch against the Padres. Neal Huntington told reporters Sunday at PNC Park that the intent is to buy at the deadline if improvement is made over the next three weeks.
Though they have reached their lowest point of the season, the Pirates think they are much closer than the numbers, and this skid against two of the leagues' worst teams does not show it.
"We’re in games," Hurdle said. "We’re not finishing games in complete cycles. The effort is there every night. The attitude is good. However, we’ve got to play better to get on the other side of the scoreboard."
LANCE’S THREE THOUGHTS
• Nova's recent troubles start with his curveball.
Though he also has a changeup in his arsenal, Nova relies on the curveball to keep hitters off-balance. He'll place it on the outside corner before firing his fastball low and inside, but this is the fourth consecutive start where the pitch has not worked.
He threw it for a strike to Franco in the first inning, but throwing the pitch did not produce that result again until the fifth. He kept missing well off the plate, rendering the pitch useless. When that happens, Nova is forced to throw entirely too many fastballs.
The scouting report has quickly reached every opponent, making hitters more aggressive early in counts as they sit on the fastball. That was the case for both of the Phillies' home runs:
"I have to find a way to make quality strikes," Nova said. "I was missing a lot and when I try to make a good pitch, I miss over the plate and they take advantage of it. I’ve got to continue to be aggressive, but with quality strikes. (I'm) trying to stay away from the middle of the plate."
Despite the inconsistent curveball, Nova kept throwing it. Finally, he threw one to Daniel Nava for strike two in the fifth. Later in the inning, Franco was up with two outs and a runner on first.
Ahead 0-1, Nova threw the curve for a strike before turning to his sinker for his only strikeout of the night:
"If you look at my last three starts before this one, I didn’t have it," Nova said of the curveball. "But that’s not a reason to stop throwing it. I believe in myself, I believe in my curve; I know I can get it when I need it. Later in the game it was a little bit better. I threw a couple strikes with the curveball. Never doubt it. Just keep throwing it until you find it."
• Jordy Mercer's splits at the plate have led many to wonder how a veteran right-handed hitter could suddenly start struggling against lefties.
That has led many to overlook his breakthrough against right-handers.
Mercer's .150 batting average against left-handers this season is a .140-point dip from his career average.
But he has just 60 at-bats against left-handers this season and most of those came in April. In comparison, he has 215 at-bats against righties.
On the other hand, his average against right-handers is .049 higher than his career number and six of his eight home runs have come off righties.
That continued Monday with his double down the left-field line against Aaron Nola, lifting a hanging curveball over Franco’s head at third base.
• Those who groaned when Francisco Cervelli was activated off the disabled list may want to reconsider.
Fans are calling for Elias Diaz to be the Pirates' starting catcher, but Diaz is in a 6-for-37 funk entering Monday and had two defensive miscues Saturday night that led to the Pirates’ loss to the Giants, including a passed ball where he missed framing a pitch.
Cervelli went 0 for 3 on Monday, but you cannot measure the impact he has on the pitching staff, particularly Nova.
Yes, Diaz accomplished quite a bit in this stint with the Pirates and gained valuable experience, but he needs to play everyday. Hurdle plans to assess the situation at catcher after this series and it’s all but guaranteed that Diaz will return to Triple-A.
He'll likely be the answer for the Pirates at some point, but he's not quite ready.
ON DECK
Taillon takes the mound on Independence Day, sporting a team-best 2.97 ERA with a 4-2 record, and he will face Mark Leiter with first pitch at 4:05 p.m.