ST. LOUIS — As Michael Wacha got closer to making history Sunday afternoon, Colin Moran watched on a television inside the batting cage at Busch Stadium. Moran, along with the Pirates’ five other bench players, was looking for any potential weakness.
He couldn’t find one. His teammates in the starting lineup couldn’t either. So, when Moran exited the dugout in the ninth inning to the sound of 44,432 fans cheering for Wacha to put the finishing touches on a no-hitter, his singular focus was getting a hit.
“You don’t want to be part of a no-hitter,” he’d say afterward. Moran ended it with his fourth swing, lining a changeup to right for a leadoff single in the ninth. Wacha, who lost a no-hit bid against the Pirates in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the 2013 NLDS, was quickly pulled from the game at 111 pitches.
Moran accomplished his goal. The other 10 Pirates batters who faced Wacha didn't, and it resulted in a 5-0 loss to the Cardinals. The Pirates have now lost five series in a row, continuing a nearly three-week slump that has them only one game over .500 just 17 days after they were in first place and eight games over.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEO“You’re frustrated,” David Freese said of Wacha's performance. “It’s easier — if it’s ever easier — to handle these games than the games where you roll over four times on off-speed pitches you think you should barrel or something. You just tip your cap. Wacha did a great job today.”
It doesn’t illustrate Wacha’s dominance, though. The 26-year-old right-hander needed only 48 pitches to get through four perfect innings, six of his first 12 outs were the result of ground balls and the Pirates hit only one ball to the outfield during that span.
Wacha, making his 16th career start against the Pirates, lost the perfect-game bid in the fifth by walking Francisco Cervelli and Gregory Polanco; however, he retired the next 10 batters he faced, striking out four.
“You don’t ever want to be no-hit,” Clint Hurdle said. “There’s certain things in the game that can get to the point where they’re maybe out of reach. If you can’t win you want to knock him out of the game. He’s throwing a no-hitter, you don’t want that to happen. … You don’t want to be no-hit.”
The Pirates, now 30-29 and in fourth place in the Central Division, weren’t close to being in the game when Moran stepped to the plate in the ninth. Marcell Ozuna, the Cardinals’ top offseason acquisition, hit a no-outs grand slam off Nick Kingham in the first inning to spot Wacha a 4-0 lead. They added another run off reliever Michael Feliz in the eighth for a five-run cushion with history on the line in the ninth.
Wacha got two more outs than his no-hit bid in the 2013 NLDS, which ended when Pedro Alvarez hit a solo home run over the wall in right-center field. But he nearly made history this time with a different arsenal. He used a cutter to prevent the Pirates from sitting on his four-seam fastball early in the count.
Wacha also threw a changeup to keep hitters off both fastballs. He mixed in 14 curveballs, eight of which were called for strikes. So, Moran said he didn't bother to think about which of Wacha's four pitches would be thrown in the ninth. Moran, entering with much of the crowd standing, fouled off the first three pitches — two cutters and a four-seam fastball — before Wacha threw a changeup over the middle of the plate:
The pitch was lined to right to prevent Wacha from completing the Cardinals’ first no-hitter since 2001. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny immediately exited the dugout to pull Wacha from the game in favor of reliever Jordan Hicks.
The Pirates didn't have much luck against him, either. Hicks struck out Adam Frazier before Austin Meadows singled on a line drive to left. Starling Marte grounded out and Josh Bell struck out swinging to send the Pirates to their 12th loss in their last 16 games.
“At the end of the day, he was better than us," Hurdle said of Wacha. "I have nothing more than that. I think that pretty much sums it up.”
Wacha threw 74 strikes, including 14 swinging, and struck out eight of the 27 batters he faced. Four of Hicks' 16 pitches were swinging strikes. To compare, Feliz and Steven Brault produced a combined six swinging strikes in 52 pitches.
The loss followed an encouraging three games for the offense; however, the Pirates have batted .236 as a team over the past 16 games. Wacha averaged just over 13 pitches per inning and retired nine batters on three pitches or less.
The Pirates are off Monday, followed by a three-game series against the Dodgers at PNC Park before a six-game road trip to face the Cubs and Diamondbacks.
Yet, neither Freese nor Hurdle were panicked after what unfolded for two hours and 25 minutes Sunday afternoon.
"Our guys went up there fighting," Hurdle said.
1. One mistake by Kingham.
Kingham's final line wasn't indicative of how well he pitched. The right-hander allowed three earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk in five innings. It was really one mistake that cost him, though.
Kingham walked Matt Carpenter on five pitches to lead off the bottom of the first inning before he threw a fastball over the plate that Tommy Pham lined to center. With runners on first and second, Kingham got Jose Martinez to hit a grounder to Sean Rodriguez; however, Rodriguez committed an error to load the bases.
Kingham then threw a hanging slider that led to this:
Ozuna hit the ball 425 feet to left for his second home run in as many days, giving the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.
"Hit a homer, clean slate," Kingham said, recalling his thought following the grand slam. "We went to work against the next hitter and just tried to get on a roll."
Kingham's confidence wasn't shaken. He focused on getting ahead in the count and he threw a first-pitch strike to 12 of the next 14 batters he faced, retiring 11 consecutive batters until Kolten Wong hit a bloop single to shallow right with two outs in the fourth inning. The Cardinals had two runners on in the fifth following a single and an error by Freese, but Kingham got Ozuna to ground out to end the threat.
Kingham threw 49 of his 81 pitches for strikes and kept the Pirates in the game following the grand slam. It remains to be see if he'll remain in the rotation once Ivan Nova returns from the disabled list, but one mistake shouldn't have any bearing on the Pirates' decision.
"He got better," Hurdle said of Kingham.
2. Rodriguez's struggles continue.
Rodriguez is in a rut. He's batting only .167/.279/.323 in 96 at-bats over 44 games. He entered the game in a 2-for-19 slump; however, Hurdle chose to start the 33-year-old to give Jordy Mercer a day off. Hurdle had no other choice. Frazier isn't capable of playing shortstop, and Josh Harrison, who was also off Sunday, hasn't played the position since 2014.
Troubles at the plate aside, Rodriguez doesn't provide the same steady defense he did in the past. He committed an error at third base in the ninth inning Thursday that potentially cost the Pirates a double play. Three batters later, Yairo Muñoz won the game with a walk-off three-run homer.
He then failed to bail out Kingham in the first inning Sunday. With runners on first and second, Kingham got Martinez to hit a one-hopper to Rodriguez. However, Rodriguez had trouble transitioning the ball from his glove when trying to throw to second for the double play.
One pitch later, Ozuna hit the hanging slider for a grand slam.
“We led off the game with a walk, you get a ground ball, you don’t turn it,” Hurdle said. “You have the opportunity to pick up a teammate and then next pitch is center cut and it’s hit in the bleachers. … We could have had a different fate if we make a play, or we could have had a different fate if [Kingham] gets Ozuna to roll over a ball to third base. It still comes down to community. Everybody is tied together. You try and pick up a teammate.”
Teams can no longer afford to give a defensive specialist a spot on the 25-man roster. There's no value in it, plus Rodriguez is making $5.75 million this season.
Frazier's ability to play three outfield positions, as well as second base, gives the Pirates options. They could bring up Max Moroff or Kevin Newman to serve in the same role as Rodriguez. Or, heck, maybe Jung Ho Kang proves he can play shortstop. Either way, the Pirates need another option at shortstop, and it appears Rodriguez’s time could be running out.
When asked if Rodriguez’s defense over the weekend was uncharacteristic, Hurdle said: "Very much so … very much so.”
3. Bullpen struggles aren't limited to Pirates.
The Rockies spent $106 million in free agency to fortify their bullpen. Spending isn't always a cure-all. Their relievers allowed eight runs in a 12-4 loss to the Dodgers on Saturday and have a combined 5.00 ERA — the second-worst mark in the National League. The Indians, who chose to let many of their free agent relievers walk after last season —when they had the best bullpen in the majors — are dead last with a 5.92 ERA.
The Pirates, who didn't sign one free agent to a major-league deal, had the second-best ERA in the NL for more than a month before encountering turbulence over the past two weeks. They have a 7.13 ERA since May 25 to spoil what has been a nice run for the rotation. Felipe Vazquez is tipping off his pitches ... again. Michael Feliz, the setup man with George Kontos gone, has allowed ten earned runs in his last four innings, after allowing one run in the eighth inning on Sunday.
That left Hurdle with few options in key situations this weekend. He had to turn to Richard Rodriguez, a 28-year-old signed to a minor-league deal in December, to pitch the ninth inning with the score tied Saturday. Although Rodriguez has arguably been the Pirates' most consistent reliever for the past six weeks, it's not a good sign when a manager avoids his back-end relievers when both hadn't pitched the previous game.
Such struggles aren't unusual, though. The Cardinals' bullpen has been a mess since opening day.
"It's more the norm," Hurdle said. "You can talk to [Cardinals manager Mike Matheny] over here. He's had a set of challenges working with a bullpen. You look at teams that are in the hunt, you look at blown saves. I think we have four. We've got 30 wins. They have a handful of blown saves and they've got 31 wins now. I mean, not that you're going to do 100 percent of them, but you add a couple more, look where you are. It creates some separation. Sometimes those elite seasons are when you don't have the turbulence that you may have."