PHILADELPHIA — There wasn't even a throw for Corey Dickerson to make. He collected the ball from the outfield grass and walked slowly towards the third-base dugout as a group of Phillies mobbed Aaron Altherr at first base. Altherr, an outfielder who didn't start Sunday's series finale at Citizens Bank Park, had just singled to left field, scoring Andrew Knapp in the 11th inning to give the Phillies a 3-2 win over the Pirates and their first four-game series sweep over their Commonwealth opponent since 1994.
It was the Pirates' sixth loss in seven games and they've now fallen into third place in the Central Division. Clint Hurdle has been quick to defend the mistakes of his players over the past week; however, he didn't mince words when asked to evaluate how it all unraveled after 20 consecutive days atop the standings.
After all, a myriad of mistakes, both on offense and defense, have the Pirates with 12 wins and 10 losses heading back to Pittsburgh with a day off Monday.
"We had a rough week," Hurdle said afterward. "We pitched it better than anything. Defensively we’re second in the league with six errors, but we haven’t played well on defense the last two nights. We have room for improvement. The game shows you where you need to improve, as I’ve continued to say. We need to clean some things up. To give teams more opportunities than the outs you get in an inning — three — you’re going to fall victim to the game."
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGSThe Pirates scored five runs in 38 innings during the series and committed two errors in each of the final two games. They went 1 for 20 with runners in scoring position and left 27 on base, including five in the final three innings of Sunday's finale. Their starting pitching was perhaps the silver lining — aside from Jameson Taillon being pulled in the second inning Thursday — but the group continues to struggle with pitch efficiency.
The Phillies' four starters threw more than 67 percent of their pitches for strikes, compared to 56.8 percent for the Pirates. The trend isn't exclusive to one series, either. Hurdle's pitching staff has pitched deeper into games through three weeks, yet they've often come close to disaster in the process.
Trevor Williams, the Pirates' starter in the finale, allowed only one hit and struck out seven, but he walked five batters, including two in the Phillies' two-run fifth inning to tie the score. Williams, who leads the staff with a 2.15 ERA, had eight three-ball counts and threw only 49 of his 92 pitches for strikes.
"You’re walking a tightrope when you walk five guys," Williams said. "Thankfully, the big inning didn’t happen for them today. It was a ball that hit the foul line and one guy scored on it. It needs to get tightened up, and I need to capitalize on short innings where I get the first two guys out fast. I walked the next guy, and that’s unacceptable."
He allowed a one-out, RBI double to Phillies' starting pitcher Nick Pavetta and the other run scored on a sacrifice fly. Williams pitched through the sixth inning and four relievers — Michael Feliz, George Kontos, Edgar Santana and Kyle Crick — each threw a scoreless inning to send the game to extras.
Then, Richard Rodriguez gave up a one-out triple to Knapp in the 11th, followed by Altherr's game-winning single to left:
Pitching hasn't been the problem during this recent skid, though. The Pirates have a combined 3.96 ERA over their past seven games. On the other hand, their offense is batting .195 with only 17 runs and 64 strikeouts during that span. Elias Diaz, starting in place of Francisco Cervelli, gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning with a two-run homer off Pivetta.
They stranded at least one runner in scoring position in the fourth, ninth and 11th innings. Josh Bell, pinch-hitting for Santana, hit a one-out triple in the ninth, only to be stranded there after a strikeout and a fly out. Dickerson and Jordy Mercer both singled in the 11th, but Diaz grounded out to strand them.
"It’s the quality of the at-bat. ... We continue to remind them the pressure is on the pitcher," Hurdle said. "It’s not like you should feel like the pressure is on; however, we haven’t performed well for a while now. … We've continued to address what we’re swinging at. How we’re swinging. Are we really taking a good look at it when we’re swinging? Again, I think it will be good for all of them to get away, and we’ll address some things."
Poor baserunning didn't help, either. Diaz was picked off at first base in the third inning after Williams struck out. Dickerson lined into a double play in the sixth inning when Marte was running from first:
The Pirates are now second in the majors in outs-on-base and lead the league in failed stolen base attempts, this after Hurdle and his staff spoke during spring training of placing a renewed emphasis on baserunning.
They weren't much better in the field, either. Williams committed an error in the fifth on an errant pickoff throw, allowing J.P Crawford to advance to second, although he was stranded there. Additionally, Crick committed a throwing error in the 10th inning and Colin Moran unsuccessfully dove for a grounder that was likely Mercer's play to make.
The issues came after the Pirates committed a number of mistakes over the past week, including:
• Williams being thrown out at second base when trying to advance to second on a sacrifice fly against the Rockies on Tuesday.
• Moran misplayed a bunt in the second inning Thursday, which contributed to Taillon's high pitch count.
• Adam Frazier wasn't prepared to make a cutoff throw in that same inning, and he failed to even try to convert a double play in the sixth inning Friday night, allowing the tying run to score.
• Felipe Vázquez prevented David Freese from making a quick throw to the plate in the eighth inning Saturday and also dropped a ball thrown home earlier in that inning.
"You’re going to have mistakes," Mercer said. "Things are going to happen throughout the course of the season. This game is hard enough as it is to stay mentally locked in and mentally focused. Get back to the way we know how to play. Nobody is panicking or raising hell. There's no reason to because there’s so many games left. Get back to our basics and how we know how to play. Everything will take care of itself."
The universal concern when the Pirates were atop the standings was middle relief. Although the bullpen's ERA ranks 25th in the majors, they've improved as of late. Now, weaknesses have emerged in the field, at the plate, on the mound and on the bases. Meanwhile, the Cardinals have won eight of their last 10 and the Brewers are on a six-game winning streak.
The Pirates will host the Tigers for a three-game series beginning Tuesday, followed by three games against the Cardinals at PNC Park over the weekend. Mercer spoke of the group having a sense of urgency, yet they're also not worrying with 140 games left to play.
"We need to be refreshed and ready Tuesday," Mercer said. "The key is to clear your mind. We didn’t finish the way we wanted to. It’s a new day. That’s what’s cool about it. There’s 140 left and you know your best days are ahead of you. We haven’t played our best ball yet. We know we’re a good team."
1. Crick providing stability to bullpen.
Crick, the right-handed reliever acquired from the Giants in the Andrew McCutchen trade, didn't make the opening day roster after posting a 5.73 ERA in 11 innings during spring training. He was recalled from Triple-A last week after Dovydas Neverauskas continued to struggle, and he has brought with him the slider that was ineffective in Grapefruit League play.
Crick entered in the 10th inning and allowed a leadoff bunt to Cesar Hernandez before getting Carlos Santana to pop out to Diaz at home plate. Crick then got Odubel Herrera to hit a weak grounder to the mound, but his throw to Freese at first was high, putting runners on first and second.
Crick responded by striking out Rhys Hoskins with a wipeout slider and got Nick Williams to ground out to end the 10th. The 25-year-old has seven strikeouts and one walk with no runs allowed in 4 2/3 innings over the past week.
"The slider is showing up big," Hurdle said. "There's depth, there's tilt to it. The fastball velocity has ticked up as well, and he had to make some really good pitches in the middle of that order. ... He did a really nice job of changing things up and attacking."
2. Diaz providing more behind the plate than Stewart ever did.
Chris Stewart, the Pirates' backup catcher when healthy last season, had 24 hits and four RBIs in 131 at-bats. Diaz, the man tasked with backing up Cervelli in 2018, has nine hits in 22 at-bats with four RBIs. Perhaps more important, Diaz has proven to be better behind the plate than Stewart. The Pirates signed Stewart for the defensive ability he showed with the Yankees, but injuries and age caught up to him.
Diaz has a cannon for an arm and has looked athletic behind the plate. He picked off Hoskins at first base as soon as Williams struck out Nick Williams, and continued to make an impact at the plate.
Diaz singled with one out in the third inning, although he was picked off, but he made up for it in the fifth. After Mercer's one-out double, Diaz swung and missed at a first-pitch slider. Then, he hit a curveball over the wall in left-center for a 2-0 lead.
"My mentality has changed," Diaz said. "One hundred percent. I know I’m going to be here. I’m more confident in myself. I know I can do what I do every day."
Diaz is now batting .409/.435/.682, and he's been worth plus-1 defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs. Also, Diaz made a pair of mound visits Sunday and both were followed by his pitcher escaping a jam with runners on base, including Crick's strikeout of Hoskins in the 10th.
3. Marte's defense beginning to shine.
Marte has looked uncomfortable in center field at times since taking over there at the start of spring training. He committed three errors in Grapefruit League play, and his negative-2 defensive runs saved entering Sunday's game were ranked 14th among center fielders in the majors. However, he showed again why he's an upgrade defensively over Andrew McCutchen.
On Williams' first pitch of the game, Hernandez hit a four-seam fastball deep to center that forced Marte to spring back to the wall, and he made an over-the-shoulder catch at the warning track to rob Hernandez of extra bases. McCutchen recorded negative-16 defensive runs saved last season, which ranked 70th among outfielders with at least 100 innings played last season. Although he fared well in cutting down balls hit to the gaps, he often struggled when forced to retreat in the manner Marte had to.
Although Marte is average according to defensive runs saved, he's tied with Dickerson for the best mark in the majors with 4 outs above average, a range-based metric that accounts for how many outs an outfielder has saved and the difficulty of those outs.
The transition isn't an easy one, either. Marte played center field throughout the minor leagues, but he was there only 25 games in 2017. "I like it out there, but I'm still getting used to it," Marte said earlier this week. "The angle to the balls is different. You get so used to looking at home plate from left, but now the ball comes straight at you. That can make it easier or harder at times."