With the go-ahead run on first and two outs in the ninth inning, Jordy Mercer dug into the batter's box and watched a 95.8-mph fastball from Brewers closer Corey Knebel go past him for strike one.
Mercer struck out on the fifth fastball of the at-bat, swinging late on a 97-mph four-seamer on the inner half of the plate. It was the final out of a 3-2 loss to the first-place Brewers Tuesday night at PNC Park.
The Pirates didn't find solace in nearly coming back from a three-run deficit. Not after they couldn't hit a fastball for six innings. They had only two hits against Freddy Peralta, a rookie starter who threw 78 percent four-seam fastballs, and it resulted in a loss that again dropped them below .500 at 36-37.
They weren't searching for answers afterward, though. They were well aware why it took seven innings for their offense to finally respond.
"He's got a good fastball," Colin Moran said of Peralta, shaking his head. "It has some good life to it, especially up in the zone. You have to look for a good pitch to hit. I got a couple good pitches to hit, but I either didn't swing, didn't hit it or fouled it off."
"Life" refers to late movement. That attribute led to Trevor Williams' resurgence one night earlier and is at the center of Tyler Glasnow's breakthrough in the Pirates' bullpen. It's also responsible for Richard Rodriguez's unusual dominance. Like Rodriguez, Peralta doesn't have overwhelming velocity.
His four-seam fastball averaged 92.3 mph against the Pirates, but he's registered unusually high spin rates, which makes his fastball difficult to square up high in the zone. The pitch has late life, rising out of the strike zone and baiting hitters into swinging when it's unhittable. Peralta struck out 13 in his big-league debut against the Rockies last month by throwing 90 four-seam fastballs. The difference, though, is he uses two different grips, one of which creates late cutting action.
He'll throw that pitch inside to left-handers and away to right-handers. He'll also throw the pitch down in the zone, too. When at its best, Peralta's four-seamer can create weak contact, as evidenced Tuesday night. Although he produced two ground outs, none of the Pirates' seven fly outs had an exit velocity over 100 mph. The exception occurred in the first inning when Starling Marte reached second base after Eric Thames dropped a fly ball at the warning track in right-center field.
Peralta retired eight of the first nine he faced, including four strikeouts, before the Pirates came close to a breakthrough in the fourth inning. Corey Dickerson singled to left and Moran reached on an infield single with one out. Francisco Cervelli then hit a pop fly to center field on a 3-0 four-seam fastball low and inside, and Bell struck out swinging at a four-seamer high and out of the zone:
Peralta, 22, struck out seven and allowed only two to reach scoring position by fooling a lineup that's now scored three runs over its past 18 innings.
"It's difficult to track when he's throwing heaters like that," Josh Bell said. "That's what we saw when he faced Colorado. It's tough to hit that."
Peralta then retired the side in order in the fifth and sixth innings. He produced 12 swinging strikes and 13 called strikes with his four-seam fastball. The Pirates' offense ranks 18th in the majors in runs since May 18, however, they're among the best in the majors at hitting four-seam fastballs.
According to Statcast, the Pirates own the fifth-highest weighted on-base average against four-seamers in the National League this season. They looked overwhelmed against a 6-foot pitcher with only two major-league starts on his résumé.
"We didn’t cover it when we needed to," Clint Hurdle said of Peralta's fastball. "He made pitches, kept us off balance with the curveball, attacked, very aggressive. Good downhill angle from a guy that’s not really tall in stature. He pitched a lot taller than he was, height-wise. Man, he got after it.”
On the other hand, the Brewers, now 43-30, capitalized on Jameson Taillon's two mistakes. Taillon, who owned a 2.25 ERA in his first three starts this month, was the victim of bad luck, too. Lorenzo Cain led off the game with a soft ground ball down the first base line and was able to reach safely, despite Cervelli making a diving throw to first.
Two batters later, Taillon threw a hanging curveball to Jesus Aguilar, who drove the ball over the wall in right-center for a 2-0 lead in a 26-pitch first inning:
A similar mistake occurred in the third inning. Cain reached on another infield single when he hit a weak ground ball toward Mercer, and Aguilar followed with a double to left field on a hanging curveball. That allowed Cain to race around third base for a 3-0 lead.
Taillon's final line wasn't ugly, but he labored through five innings. At least one batter reached safely each inning, and he forced the Brewers to strand two runners on third base. The 26-year-old allowed seven hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. He threw 68 percent of his pitches for strikes.
But he needed 100 pitches to get through five, forcing Hurdle to turn to his struggling bullpen.
"It was kind of a grind," Taillon said. "They fouled off a lot of good pitches, got into some deep counts. Outside of that, a couple pitches can make or break the night. ... That’s the game. We were trailing the whole game from then. That’s about it."
A three-run lead seemed insurmountable against a fastball-heavy starter pitching to an offense that's feasted on fastballs for much of the season. Glasnow, Edgar Santana and Kyle Crick combined to pitch four scoreless innings with six strikeouts. It wasn't until Dan Jennings, a lefty reliever, entered in the seventh that the Pirates finally answered. Bell drew an 11-pitch, two-out walk, and Gregory Polanco followed with a single on the 11th pitch of his at-bat.
Then, for the second time in as many days, Mercer doubled to left to score a crucial run. Austin Meadows, pinch-hitting, struck out to end the inning and strand two.
"We're right there," Bell said afterward.
They got closer, too. Marte, facing right-hander Jeremy Jeffress, hit a first-pitch four-seam fastball to right-center for a two-out solo homer in the eighth, cutting the deficit to one. It was Marte's ninth homer of the season, and only the second Jeffress had allowed in 34 games.
Unlike their struggles against fastballs, the Pirates' success late in games isn't an anomaly. Their .248 average in the seventh inning or later ranks fourth in the NL. It wasn't enough, though. Polanco drew a two-out walk against Knebel in the ninth, only for Mercer to strikeout swinging to end the game.
A comeback would have given the Pirates back-to-back series wins for the first time since they won three series in a row from May 4-13. Instead, they'll attempt to avoid another series defeat in the finale Wednesday.
"We’ve done this before," Hurdle said. "We stay in the game. We fight. We scratch. We claw. We got close again. ... One run short tonight."
1. Encouraging signs from Marte.
Marte deserved better. He's now batting .280 after a 1-for-4 performance, but he delivered four of the Pirates' best at-bats of the game. The 29-year-old was responsible for four of their seven hardest-hit balls in terms of exit velocity, with his solo home run in the eighth leaving his bat a 102.9 mph:
That landed 394 feet from home plate, and it was his third home run in 22 games since coming off the disabled list. Also, his fly ball to the warning track in the first inning traveled 368 feet, and he lined out to right field twice with both balls forcing Thames to retreat to the warning track.
More important, Marte was driving the ball to the opposite field. He's batted only .220 since returning from a strained right oblique, and he tried to pull the ball more often during that span. That's often led to weak contact or strikeouts. This time, though, Marte took what the pitcher gave him, and he nearly willed the Pirates to a comeback.
"He’s letting the ball travel," Hurdle said. "He’s getting the barrel to the ball. ... It’s really good to see when he’s driving the ball to the middle of the field, from left-center field over. That’s usually when he’s at his best.”
2. Uncharacteristic error by Cervelli.
Cervelli should not have swung the bat. That's easy enough for a reporter to say but the situation made that fact clear as day. With the Pirates trailing by three runs and two on with one out in the fourth, Peralta threw three pitches well out of the strike zone, including a curveball that nearly hit Cervelli in the head.
Peralta was rattled. He appeared to be frustrated, and it seemed a meltdown was inevitable. Then Cervelli swung the bat. It was a 3-0 four-seam fastball low and inside, and the 32-year-old catcher hit a weak pop fly to center for the easy out. Four pitches later, Bell struck out to end the inning.
Yes, Bell deserves some blame. He looked overwhelmed during his at-bat. But the uncharacteristic mistake by Cervelli seemed to give Peralta some extra juice on the mound. Cervelli isn't typically the aggressive type — he's averaging 4.24 pitches per plate appearances — but the Pirates lead the league in swings on 3-0 pitches.
Sure, it's worth taking that risk at times. This didn't seem to be the appropriate time, though. Since May 18, the Pirates have batted .238 with runners in scoring position, which ranks 19th in the majors. Cervelli is batting .181 since May 17, when he started getting moved around the Pirates' order following Marte's injury.
3. Moran a safe choice at cleanup.
Hurdle had an unlikely solution to one the Pirates' unexpected problems this season. Bell, who drove in 90 runs as the club's cleanup hitter last season, had a .228 average with a .659 OPS and 32 RBIs in 57 games before being moved out of that spot in the lineup earlier this month.
Hurdle previously experimented with Cervelli as the cleanup hitter, however, Cervelli went 0 for 9 in three games there. So, the Pirates turned to Moran, a rookie who had only 16 games of big-league experience prior to this season. Moran has batted .250 with a .908 OPS, two home runs and three RBIs in seven games there. He's also walked five times with seven strikeouts.
"Discipline," Hurdle said of what he's liked about Moran as the cleanup hitter. "I'm asking a rookie to bat cleanup; I'm aware of that. When we moved Bell out — actually, Bell was a rookie hitting cleanup — and I think Colin has some maturity to his hitting. Awareness, his application. I didn't think he'd be a guy that would be overly fazed by the position or the number. ... He seemed to actually embrace it. It sounds good, like it. He can drive in a run. He's got the ability to see some pitches. ... He's really been quite steadfast with his approach wherever he's hit in the lineup."
Well, the Pirates are also short on options. Hurdle would prefer to have a left-handed hitter batting fourth since Marte is entrenched at No. 3, and Dickerson has only five home runs with 32 RBIs this season. He hasn't hit a home run since May 4. Moran is a safe option until Bell proves to be ready to regain the spot.
Consider this: Moran has averaged 3.69 pitches per plate appearances — the league average is 3.92 — and his batting average on balls in play is .301, which is right around league average. He's gone 19 for 62 over his last 17 starts with eight walks.