WASHINGTON -- The true test of a pitcher's maturity is whether he can be effective when he doesn't have his best stuff. It's easy to pitch when the fastball is jumping, the curve is dropping off the table or the slider is totally wiping out the opposition.
Coming off back-to-back bad starts, Jameson Taillon was looking to get back on track in the opening game of a four-game series in Washington against the Nationals. The only problem was, his curveball didn't have its usual crispness on this warm — at least for what the Pirates have grown accustomed to playing in — evening.
So after scuffling through the first few innings, Taillon went to a new changeup he's been working on. And after allowing three runs in the first four innings, he set the Nationals down in order in the fifth and sixth innings, battling through not having his full arsenal.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEOThough those three runs wound up being enough for the Nationals to prevail, 3-2, Taillon's teammates were glad to see the team's ace get back to pitching well enough to win after back-to-back outings in which he allowed 12 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.
"I think he pitched well. He missed some spots and this team, they made him pay," catcher Francisco Cervelli said of Taillon. "But the last two innings, we saw him come back again. But this is our guy, this is our ace.
"We didn't have the curveball and we didn't have the fastball location, so we had to figure out something to get back on track. The changeup made him start throwing the curveball better. We cannot quit on pitches. We just put them on the side for a little bit and throw them later. This guy's going to be good. I have no doubt. He gave up a few runs and then we couldn't hit."
That was thanks to Washington's Tanner Roark, who limited the Pirates (17-12) to six hits and two runs, both earned, in seven innings. Like Taillon, Roark struggled early, allowing three baserunners in the first two innings, but he worked out of a two-on, one-out jam in the top of the first inning, then induced an inning-ending double play in the second before cruising through the next few innings.
"This is a guy who has won over 50 games since 2014, so it's not surprising when he wins a ballgame," said Clint Hurdle. "The guy can pitch. He throws everything at you. He's very unpredictable on the mound."
With his curveball not working, Taillon became much more predictable early, at least until he started mixing in the changeup. Taillon said he recently changed the grip on his changeup and after toying around with it between starts, feels more confident in that pitch.
That's big, because when you throw 96, as Taillon was doing Monday night, it takes confidence to want to slow the ball down 10 or so miles per hour.
"It gives you some confidence in it. I've been messing around with grips," he said. "I've been playing catch with it a lot between starts, throwing it a lot in the bullpen and asking for feedback from the catchers and coaches. I think we're onto something. I'm going to stick with this one."
It was just up to Cervelli to keep calling for it. And after this outing, perhaps he will.
The Nationals (13-16) have been struggling to hit consistently as a team, but found a little bit of traction against Taillon early.
They scored a single run in the second inning on an RBI single by Wilmer Difo, who came into this one hitting just .217, then tacked on two more runs in the fourth with a four-hit inning.
Catcher Matt Wieters, who was hitting just .211, hit a one-out single to right and Difo followed with his second hit, a single through the hole at second base. With Roark up and looking to sacrifice the runners to second and third, Taillon threw a pitch in the dirt that got away from Cervelli and allowed both runners to advance.
Roark then slapped a two-strike single past second baseman Adam Frazier, who was drawn in along with the rest of the infield, hoping to cut off a run at home:
I asked Frazier if he gets to that ball at normal depth.
"He hit it good up the middle, but yeah, I probably get to it," Frazier told me. "Second and third and we needed to hold them. Give him credit for getting the barrel to the ball and just hitting it to the middle of the field, which is tough to do, especially against a guy like Jameson."
Taillon wasn't happy about that result.
"In that situation, that's not what you want to have happen," he admitted. "Usually, you should be relieved to see the pitcher up there. And you give the hit to him up the middle. He did a good job getting his foot down and hitting the fastball up. It's not ideal, but it happens."
Leadoff batter Trea Turner, who had three of Washington's nine hits, then laced an RBI single to left to make it 3-0 before Taillon rolled a double play ball to end the inning.
Those would be all the runs the Nationals would score, but they were all Roark (2-2) needed.
Even an RBI double by Taillon into the left-center gap and this towering solo homer by Corey Dickerson in the seventh weren't enough to rattle Roark:
"It seemed like he kind of found his groove a little bit after the first inning when I got that first hit," said Frazier, who led off the game with a hard single to left. "We were kind of sporadic after that. I don't think it was a lack of us being aggressive. But we weren't jumping on those fastballs. He found his groove and hit his spots. He pitched good. He limited his mistakes."
1. Taillon vs. Harper? Edge, former.
Taillon and Washington slugger Bryce Harper were batterymates on the 2009 USA Under-18 team that defeated Cuba in the PanAm Junior games that year. Taillon pitched that game and has watched as Harper has become a massive star.
Monday, he got the better of his former batterymate, twice striking him out. But he also issued one of the two intentional walks the Pirates gave to Harper, a nod to his ability as a hitter.
"He's a great player. He's in all of the commercials and video games, kind of larger than life," Taillon said of Harper. "He was my catcher on Team USA when I was 18. He caught the Gold Medal game I pitched in. I respect the heck out of him. I'm careful when I'm pitching to him."
2. Where was Marte?
Hurdle gave center fielder Starling Marte the day off in the field, starting Sean Rodriguez in that spot. Interestingly, he also batted Rodriguez in Marte's usual No. 3 spot in the batting order. This despite Rodriguez batting .156 after going 0 for 3 in this game.
Marte did pinch-hit, subbing for the pitcher's spot in the eighth inning and popping out to second baseman Howie Kendrick.
It might have made more sense for Hurdle to use red-hot Elias Diaz in that spot in the eighth, even though it would have taken his backup catcher out of play, and used Marte to pinch-hit for Rodriguez to lead off the ninth inning.
Diaz is batting .484 this season and has six hits in his last eight at-bats over a span of three games.
3. Up next: Scherzer
Nothing gets any easier for the Pirates in this series, even though they won't have to face Gio Gonzalez, who threw Sunday for the Nationals.
Up next is Max Scherzer, who is a threat to throw a no-hitter or post 18 strikeouts in any start.
I asked Frazier if the team or he approaches a series such as this any differently when they know they will be facing top-notch pitching.
"It's the same. You've got to bring it. You've got to lock in," he told me. "You hope they give you a couple of pitches to hit. Just be ready to hit, be ready to hit the mistake and fight. That's basically what it is."
