Bullpen woes resurfacing for Pirates

Elias Diaz got his own form of retribution. Diaz, the Pirates catcher whom Anthony Rizzo knocked down with a controversial slide Major League Baseball determined to be illegal, hit the first pitch of the second inning Tuesday night over the left field wall at PNC Park for a solo home run.

There was no retribution for the Pirates, though. Their bullpen allowed five runs in the final three innings, and a ninth-inning rally fell short in an 8-6 loss to the Cubs. The Pirates, now 28-26 and fourth place in the Central Division, have lost four in a row and nine of their last 11.

They were atop the standings only 12 days earlier; however, shortcomings at the plate, on the mound and in the field have them six games back of the first-place Brewers with 10 of their next 14 games on the road.

"You have to stay tight," Clint Hurdle said afterward. "You have to stay together as a group. I’ve seen a lot and it’s never good to go through it. However, they’re going to look for some stability somewhere, and I need to show up every day. I need to be on top of things, I need to be coaching, and I need to be modeling the behavior that I want them to carry out on the field, in the clubhouse and everywhere they go and play. We’re going to hang together, we’re going to figure it out, and we’re going to get through it. We're going to get better."

The offense was held to two hits and failed to advance a baserunner into scoring position in the 7-0 loss Monday. It wasn't the problem this time, though. The Pirates had 13 hits, including six for extra bases. Austin Meadows hit a solo home run in the fifth inning and went 3 for 5. Starling Marte went 3 for 5, including two doubles, and drove in three runs.

He gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead by driving in Meadows with a double, spraying a hanging curveball to left field. Josh Bell, who went 2 for 5, followed with a single to center to score Marte. Diaz then made it 3-0 with his home run off Jon Lester in the second inning.

However, Nick Kingham, recalled Monday when Ivan Nova was placed on the 10-day disabled list, allowed three earned runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. Tyler Glasnow, a stabilizing force in the bullpen over the past three weeks, held on to a one-run lead by stranding two runners after replacing Kingham in the sixth inning. The back end of the bullpen, a strength not long ago, proceeded to blow another lead.

Edgar Santana, who had not been charged with a run in his previous 13 outings, struck out Kris Bryant to lead off the seventh inning. However, a hanging slider high in the zone was struck by Rizzo over the Clemente Wall to tie the score, 4-4:

Santana then gave up a single to Wilson Contreras before Ian Happ, a switch-hitter, hit an elevated sinker to deep left-center over the head of Marte to give the Cubs their first lead of the night. Jason Heyward added on with a single to right to score Happ and make it 6-4.

"We’re missing spots big time," Hurdle said afterward. "We’re missing spots big time. The left-handed batters barreled the ball up the entire game. ... Extra-base hits. Balls hit hard. We missed location way too often tonight."

It got worse, too. Michael Feliz, moved into the setup role earlier this month, gave up a leadoff double in the eighth, followed by this rocket off the bat of Schwarber:

Feliz's 82 mph slider was thrown right down the middle, and the ball left Schwarber's bat with an exit velocity of 107 mph, driving in two more runs to make it 8-4. Feliz's command was so erratic — he walked Rizzo on four pitches and hit Contreras on the arm with a 92 mph four-seam fastball — that Hurdle and Bryan Housand, the Pirates' head athletic trainer, left the dugout to check on him.

"They said I made a face," Feliz said. "I was fine, though. Nothing was wrong. I’m just not commanding my four-seam fastball or my slider. There’s not really a reason behind it. It’s just one of those things that happens. I think it won’t last long, though."

Feliz, a 24-year-old acquired from the Astros in the Gerrit Cole trade, has a 5.87 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in 23 innings. He allowed only one earned run in his first 13 appearances, but he has a 8.18 ERA in 11 innings this month, giving up at least two runs in three of his last four appearances.

Felipe Vazquez, unavailable Monday after being diagnosed with irritation in a flexor muscle, pitched a scoreless ninth inning in which he threw his five fastest pitches of the season, including his first four over 100 mph.

“I think starting from me, they see me struggle and not saving games like I’m supposed to," Vazquez said. "‘He’s not doing his job, so it’s up to us.’ I think they were trying to do too much. Now that I’m feeling OK, we’re going to be back in a little bit.”

Yet, the game followed a troubling trend. Pirates relievers have recorded a 6.98 ERA in the seventh through ninth innings over the past 11 games — the second-worst mark in the National League — and they've allowed 37 hits in 29 2/3 innings.

Additionally, the offense has batted only .212 with runners in scoring position, and the starting pitching has a 4.34 ERA during that span. Although they scored four runs off Lester, the Pirates went 4 for 10 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base, including four at second or third.

They scored two runs in the ninth inning on a two-run single by Marte; however, they stranded two on base when Bell struck out and Corey Dickerson, pinch-hitting for David Freese, flied out to shortstop Addison Russell.

"I liked the fight we had from the start off a very good starter," Hurdle said. "The guy’s been pitching really good baseball. I like the fight at the end, however; the game isn’t complete. We didn’t play well enough to win and at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. We need to get better."

1. Encouraging sign from Vazquez.

It was a low-leverage outing with the Pirates facing a four-run deficit, but Vazquez' ninth inning was a promising development for the bullpen. After all, he was rubbing his elbow and wincing in pain inside the dugout Sunday following his third consecutive blown save. Vazquez was diagnosed with minor irritation in a flexor muscle and only played catch before Monday's game.

He threw five pitches in the bullpen Tuesday to test out his arm, and it was determined he was ready to return to game action. Vazquez's first three pitches to the Cubs: 99, 99 and 100 mph. He needed only 11 pitches to retire the side, throwing 10 strikes and inducing three groundouts.

"I’d say yes," Vazquez said when asked if it's the best he's felt in a while. "Last time, not saying that my arm didn’t feel OK. It was just a combination of probably too much lifting or too much running or doing too much before the games in the bullpen to try to get hot.”

The Pirates need him to be the type of closer he was last season, when he had a 0.88 WHIP with 88 strikeouts to 20 walks in 75 1/3 innings. Vazquez's swing-and-miss rate has dropped significantly from last season. He didn't strike out a batter Tuesday, but those will come if he can throw with this type of velocity on a consistent basis.

Perhaps as important, Vazquez's changeup produced three swinging strikes. Neal Huntington said on his weekly radio show Sunday morning that hitters were sitting on Vazquez's fastball because he was failing to throw his changeup for a strike. That changed.

"The ball was flying out of my hand," he said. "I knew that I was not even pushing too hard. It was just easing up on my mechanics and letting the arm flow. The first one, I knew I was feeling OK.”

2. Meadows earning Hurdle's trust.

With Lester on the mound, Hurdle chose to sit Dickerson, Colin Moran and Gregory Polanco. Instead, he kept his least experienced left-handed batter in the lineup. Meadows, with only 10 major-league at-bats against lefties, delivered two towering hits in the loss.

First, Meadows drew the count full in the first inning before hitting a hanging curveball over the head of Happ, who misjudged the ball, charging forward before trying to backpedal at the last second. Meadows scored one pitch later when Marte doubled to left field.

Facing Lester again in the fifth inning, Meadows again drew the count full after falling behind 0-2, and he hit a cutter over the plate to deep right:

Lester, a three-time World Series winner, had yet to allow a home run to a lefty this season, and they batted only .205 against him in 2017. Meadows was batting .378 against lefties at Triple-A this season; however, he hasn't had much success against them since he was in Double-A in 2016.

"For me, it’s just being aggressive," he said. "It’s being aggressive early in the count, getting my swing off. That’s kind of the biggest key for me up here. I know if I’m taking certain pitches I can hit and I’m not getting my swing off that’s putting me at a disadvantage. Going out there, being aggressive and trying to swing at good pitches."

Meadows has batted .439 with four home runs, including three against lefties, and three doubles in 11 games. He has a 1.283 OPS and has seven RBIs. In addition to his two hits off Lester, Meadows singled off Brandon Morrow on a nine pitch at-bat in the ninth inning.

"If you’re not impressed by Meadows’ at-bats you need to go watch another sport right now," Hurdle said. "This kid, the head discipline, there’s no movement in his stride. Morrow comes in so he’s going to face some extreme velocity and he’s fighting off pitches. Where he’s at right now, if you ask him, I’d like to ask him right now if you’ve ever been in a better place as far as feel and conviction in the box because three homers off left-handers. … The overall at-bats and the ball, when he hits the ball there’s carry to it. He’s doing very well."

3. Pirates need Bell to heat up again. 

Bell was among the hottest hitters in the National League for the first few weeks of May, but he's gone cold during the Pirates' recent skid. Entering Tuesday, he was batting .143 over his previous eight games, having only one extra-base hit in 31 plate appearances. He seemed to finally break through against Lester, though.

Bell, batting from the right side, singled in his first two at-bats, driving in Marte in the first inning with a line drive to center on a cutter over the middle of the plate. Bell, still only 25 years old, then hit another line drive in the third inning, but he was stranded at first base.

Bell has slashed .254/.324/.386 this season, and it may not be a coincidence that his struggles have coincided with the Pirates facing more left-handed pitching the past two weeks. Bell batted .242 with a .758 OPS against lefties last year, compared to a .259 average and .822 OPS facing right-handers. Now that he's established in the majors, Bell placed a renewed focus this offseason on hitting left-handed pitching, yet he has a .752 OPS against them in 43 at-bats this season.

It's only one game, yes, but he'll need to continue to make progress for this team to contend.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY