Williams' rare struggle 'just part of long season'

Starling Marte was waiting on a slider. When the pitch left Jack Flaherty's hand, Marte swung and the ball left his bat with an exit velocity of 108.1 mph, landing an estimated 447 feet away for a solo home run in the first inning at PNC Park.

The at-bat was Marte's first since being activated from the 10-day disabled list earlier Saturday afternoon; however, the Pirates' offense had only five more hits and didn't score again in a 4-1 loss to the Cardinals. The Pirates, now 28-23 and in a three-way tie for second place in the Central Division, again struggled to capitalize with runners in scoring position.

What occurred on the mound, though, illustrated a more troubling trend. Trevor Williams was pulled after only four innings in what was the latest short start during a turbulent month for the Pirates' starting rotation.

"I just hit too much plate today with all my pitches," Williams said afterward. "We were going for the edges and stuff was leaking out over the plate."

He gave up another run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly and was pulled after giving up two runs on three hits in the fourth. Throwing strikes wasn't the issue. Williams didn't walk a batter and 45 of his 65 pitches were strikes. The problem was pitch location inside the zone.

He couldn't locate pitches outside to right-handers or inside to left-handers. That resulted in pitches over the plate, including the sinker Carpenter whacked off the fence at the very top of the seats in right:

The start followed a recent trend for Williams. Although his walk rate was up from last season, Williams allowed only one home run in his first six starts. He's gotten the walk rate back under control; however, his fly-ball rate has skyrocketed and he's allowed six home runs in five starts during May.

"I just think it’s a part of what can happen in a major league season," Hurdle said. "Really challenged getting the ball glove side. Some arm-side misses. They were putting some swings on him early. There weren't secondary pitches to really combat it. … That was enough. Try to hold them at four and move on. He’ll bounce back fine. This is part of a major league season."

Williams has been the Pirates' most consistent starter this season, pitching through the sixth inning in seven of his 11 starts. He has the lowest ERA and WHIP among their pitchers with at least four starts, and he's allowed only 7.29 hits per nine innings.

However, the Pirates' rotation has the second-worst ERA in May, despite pitching the fifth-fewest innings. They've registered the fourth-highest opponent batting average while allowing the most home runs. Additionally, they've allowed the fourth-most hits this season. Ivan Nova, the presumed ace of the staff, has a 7.61 ERA over his last five starts, although a strained ligament in his right ring finger may have contributed to the drop in production.

Jameson Taillon, meanwhile, has a 5.84 ERA in his last eight starts and has been lifted before the fifth inning three times during that span, including once with a laceration on his right middle finger. Those struggles have contributed to the team's 11-11 record this month, including six losses in their last eight games.

Joe Musgrove pitched seven scoreless innings in his first regular-season start for the Pirates, yet he gave up six earned runs in five innings during his final Triple-A rehab start. Musgrove has also struggled as a starter throughout his career. The rotation has benefited from one of the top offenses in the National League, too. They've received the fourth-highest run support per game started, yet their 17 wins are only one over the league average.

The bullpen, which has a 2.89 ERA since April 12, has allowed the Pirates to stay in games despite the rotation having six starts of fewer than five innings this month. Richard Rodriguez, Tyler Glasnow, Kyle Crick and Edgar Santana combined to throw five scoreless innings Saturday. Hurdle didn't seem troubled by his rotation's issues, though, saying teams across the league are facing similar challenges.

"The thing is starting pitching, you look around the league, it’s tough," Hurdle said. "Our guys are going to compete. More often than not I want to give a guy a shot at five innings just because it can make everything work more systematically. The number of innings out of the bullpen, it gets that guy an opportunity to at least flush it and throw close to 90 pitches or whatever. There are certain cases during the season I think you just cut it off where it is and you move on. That’s the beauty of the game we get to play."

Williams produced only five swinging strikes and 13 called strikes, and although he wasn't necessarily hit hard, the Cardinals took advantage of his mistakes. Yairo Muñoz singled on a ground ball to left to lead off the third inning and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt.

He then scored when Jose Martinez singled with a line drive to center on an elevated four-seam fastball, giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. Tommy Pham led off the fourth inning with a double after Williams failed to attack the outer half, leaving a slider over the middle of the plate.

Pham later scored on a sacrifice fly and the Cardinals took a 4-0 lead when Muñoz reached on an infield single with runners on the corners. Like his fellow starters, Williams could be experiencing the typical counterpunch from the league, yet he chalked up the struggles to him facing a lineup that didn't feature the Cardinals' regulars.

"It could be," Williams said of his increased fly-ball rate. "It’s really going to be start-to-start how guys are swinging. They had certain guys in their lineup tonight that hadn’t been in their lineup in the past year that have different swings. We’re going to attack hitters. If they’re going to try to pop it up in the air, we’re going to try to attack it that way. We’ll try to pitch to their game."

Marte, who missed nine games because of a strained right oblique, went 2 for 4 and Colin Moran also added two singles. The Pirates, using a new-look lineup with Gregory Polanco dropped into the seven-hole, went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left six on base.

Jack Flaherty, added to the Cardinals' rotation when Adam Wainwright was placed on the disabled list, allowed four hits in six innings. Cardinals starters have now held opponents to three runs or less in each of their last 16 games, and their rotation's ERA in May is the fourth-lowest in the majors, despite them playing without Wainwright and Carlos Martinez.

The Pirates, meanwhile, are awaiting word on whether or not Nova can make his next scheduled start and arguably the top three starters in their rotation are searching for answers.

"This, knowing Trevor, this will have no residue," Hurdle said. "He’s going to go and attack the same team the next time he sees them."

1. Polanco not the only one scuffling.

Hurdle informed Polanco hours before first pitch Saturday he would no longer bat second in the Pirates' order. Polanco had slashed .213/.325/.432 this season and struggled the past six weeks, batting .197 over his past 34 games entering the day. More important, he was batting only .148 with runners in scoring position.

The two-hole is statistically proven to receive the most run-scoring opportunities in a lineup, and Hurdle chose to move Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli went 1 for 3 with a walk and Polanco went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts and a walk.

Although Hurdle acknowledged Polanco's struggles, he came to the right fielder's defense before the game. He said it's not only Polanco who has failed to capitalize with runners on base.

"Just to give him a different look and us a different look," Hurdle said of the reason behind Polanco's reassignment. "The other thing I want to mention is it’s not one guy. A few guys have been shuffled. That’s the one conversation you need to have. It’s not one guy. Because if you want to really dig between [the numbers], there’s been ample opportunities for guys in our lineup in key situations with runners in scoring position to do things. Sometimes other people can pick you up when you’re not (hitting) and that’s part of it. That’s what we’re giving other guys an opportunity to do now."

Although the Pirates rank third in the NL in batting average with runners in scoring position this season, they've batted only .198 in those situations over their past 10 games.

They stranded a runner on second base in the third inning when Cervelli walked and Marte singled. But there were few other opportunities against the Cardinals. Josh Bell doubled with two outs in the sixth, and Corey Dickerson flied out to left to end the inning. Two of the Cardinals' three relief pitchers allowed a hit, only to shut the Pirates down to close out the win.

2. Oh, how Marte was missed.

Austin Meadows batted .448 in seven games with Marte out of the lineup; however, the Pirates missed Marte's presence in the order. He reminded everyone of that with this display of power in the first inning:

Hurdle said the home run reminded him of Marte's first career home run in his big-league debut against the Astros in July 2012.

"Bam, with some length to it," Hurdle said. "I think he showed he’s recovered. The way he moved around the outfield, making a throw. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow, but I anticipate him being good."

This latest feat of strength was the Pirates' farthest-hit home run of the season. He's now batting .313 with a .819 OPS, seven home runs and 20 RBIs in 41 games. In addition to his immense impact on the field, Marte's play could decide how the Pirates choose to utilize Meadows.

They'll use Meadows to monitor Marte's workload over the next few weeks since a right oblique injury can linger for hitters — Marte was icing the muscle following game. But that swing in the first inning is a clear indication that the potential effects of such an injury are likely behind him. This could mean the Pirates' four-man outfield rotation might not last long, especially with Meadows having little professional experience in right field.

"It's definitely feeling a lot better, especially after the 10-day DL," Marte said through team interpreter Mike Gonzalez. "I've been able to feel a lot better. Sometimes I feel a little something, and there's a little bit of fear about tweaking it again, but at the same time just trying to stay focused and keep working hard."

3. Give bullpen the credit.

The Pirates made a calculated risk by letting go of George Kontos. He's won a World Series and was the only reliever over the age of 30 on the roster. Hurdle, though, has expressed confidence in this young bullpen's ability to help the Pirates win. He spoke highly of each pitcher during spring training and continued to do so when the group struggled the first two weeks of the season.

This was yet another game where they've kept the offense within striking distance after a starting pitcher faltered early. They potentially have five pitchers — Rodriguez, Glasnow, Crick, Santana and Steven Brault — capable of throwing multiple innings, which allows Hurdle to have a quick hook when he sees a starter like Williams struggle.

For all of their success, though, it might not matter unless the man on the back end — Felipe Vázquez — returns to form.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY