With longer leash, Kuhl shows mettle by pitching seven zeroes

Relying on three young starting pitchers this season has produced inefficient outings and tested the Pirates' bullpen. The youthful mistakes, though, are a small price to pay in Clint Hurdle's mind.

He wants to prepare Chad Kuhl, Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams for the future, and the final month of the season is an opportune time to push them further than normal.

That is particularly difficult with Kuhl, a right-hander who has been inefficient for much of the season, but he took advantage of Hurdle's trust Monday by throwing seven scoreless innings with a career-high eight strikeouts in the Pirates' 12-0 win over the first-place Cubs at PNC Park.



"If you’re going to invest, you need to invest," Hurdle said afterward. "Every time you invest doesn’t mean you’re always going to get a good result. Some of these things have been some challenges along the way, but they’re learning experiences. ... They’re getting that experience, they’re getting to face good hitters later in games to work out of jams to pitch innings."

With the Pirates' bullpen taxed and low on proven, effective pitchers — Felipe Rivero is 9 2/3 innings away from matching a career-high and Juan Nicasio was lost on waivers to the Phillies — Hurdle is giving Kuhl, Taillon and Williams a longer leash.

Williams threw 92 pitches in seven innings for the Pirates (66-72) to defeat the Reds on Sunday, and Taillon has thrown 90 or more pitches in five of his last six starts, including 96 in six innings Saturday. Though Taillon has been ineffective as of late, Hurdle has more trust in Taillon and Williams to pitch deeper into games because of their efficiency.

Kuhl, on the other hand, has often faltered once he gets through the fifth inning. He pitched five scoreless innings against the Cubs at Wrigley Field last Friday, only to allow three runs in the sixth. His start Monday had the makings of another short outing, too.

Kuhl threw 38 pitches through the first two innings and four of the first seven batters reached base. After getting behind 2-0 to Jason Heyward in the second inning, Ray Searage made a mound visit to calm Kuhl down.

Kuhl was impressive the rest of the way, throwing a first-pitch strike to 18 of the 26 batters he faced, despite not feeling as if he had "everything in the tank." Sixty-two of his 100 pitches were strikes, and he used all five of his pitches. His four-seam fastball reached 100 mph and he used either his curveball or slider to get back into counts or to put a hitter away, including this curveball to strike out Kyle Schwarber in the second inning:



He then struck out the side in the fourth, using this slider to get Heyward to end the inning:



With Kuhl due up after throwing 86 pitches through six innings and the Pirates leading 4-0, Hurdle decided to not use a pinch-hitter, despite there being a runner on first.

"You always want to be out there," Kuhl said. "I was thankful that I had that quick sixth and he let me go out there for the seventh. As a starter, you want to be out there as long as possible, so it feels good to just go as long as you can. It feels good being out there."

That's not something Kuhl is accustomed to doing, though. He's finished the seventh inning only three times this season and had not pitched through the sixth since Aug. 8 against Detroit. That inefficiency is often the result of Kuhl implementing a revamped repertoire, which now includes more four-seam fastballs and a curveball.

There is upside to the change, however.

Kuhl has a 3.69 ERA in 17 starts since throwing his first curveball in a major league game against the Diamondbacks on May 31. He's less predictable and better suited to challenge left-handed hitters, who are batting .317 against him this season.

The Cubs had six left-handed hitters and a switch-hitter in their lineup Monday, but Kuhl, who is 7-10 with a 4.32 ERA in 28 starts this season, held them to a combined five hits.

"Going through it’s tough," Kuhl admitted of his struggles this season. "Earlier in the year, having some struggles. I wouldn’t say it’s a full, complete transformation, but I think it just added to the repertoire, added to the weapons I can use. I’m seeing that play big time."

As was the case Sunday, the rookies led the charge on offense. Max Moroff, Josh Bell and Jordan Luplow combined to go 8 for 14 with two home runs and eight RBI. Bell gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the first with his two-run shot over the Clemente Wall:



Afterwards, Kuhl escaped trouble in the top of the second. He allowed two singles and a walk, but Starling Marte threw out Ben Zobrist at home to save a run. Kris Bryant hit a two-out double in the third before Anthony Rizzo hit a weak grounder to end the threat.

The Pirates then added to their lead in the third when Moroff drilled a sinker from Jake Arrieta, who was removed from the game later in the inning because of a hamstring injury, that landed on the concourse beyond right field for a solo home run:



The Pirates added seven runs in the eighth inning, including hits by Moroff and Bell. It was the type of game that was valuable both in the interim and long-term, as Bell explained: