Adam Frazier stayed behind the slider from Cardinals starter Austin Gomber and lined the ball into the gap in left-center for a two-run double, igniting a roar from the 32,473 fans at PNC Park. That effortless, compact swing tied the score to cap a three-run fourth inning in which the Pirates' surging offense overcame a third consecutive short start from the rotation.
The crowd was quiet not long after, though. Right-hander Alex McRae, a rookie right-hander with a 1.59 WHIP as a starter in Triple-A this season, was tagged for three runs, including two in the fifth, and the Pirates managed only one hit the rest of the game, as they lost to the Cardinals, 8-4, Saturday night.
Ivan Nova pitched only four innings and the Pirates' past three starters — including Chris Archer — have lasted a total of 9 1/3 innings, giving Hurdle few options with the score tied and sole possession of third place on the line. His decision to give the ball to McRae exposed a glaring hole on the roster that neither he nor Neal Huntington may have an answer for.
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEO"We’re doing what we can," Hurdle would say afterwards.
The Pirates and Cardinals, both 57-54, are again tied for third place in the Central Division, 7 1/2 games back of the first-place Cubs, and four back in the Wild Card hunt. They'll play for the series win Sunday afternoon before the Pirates embark on a nine-game road trip to Denver, San Francisco and Minneapolis.
Yet, it appeared only five days ago the two teams were headed in opposite directions. The Cardinals have overhauled their roster and coaching staff, firing Mike Matheny last month, making wholesale changes to their bullpen and trading outfielder Tommy Pham, their best hitter last season, to the Rays at the deadline.
Meanwhile, the Pirates added Archer and Keone Kela, a reliever who saved 24 consecutive games for the Rangers this season. Although Kela, only 25 and under contract for two more seasons, joined a formidable back end, he does not address the club's need for a long reliever.
Tyler Glasnow was traded to the Rays as part of the Archer deal, and Steven Brault was demoted to Triple-A Friday after walking a team-high 46 batters. Only McRae, Richard Rodriguez and Edgar Santana are capable of pitching multiple innings, and Hurdle didn't want to push the envelope with his back-end guys since the club has 19 games in 20 days, including a quick turnaround Sunday.
McRae, 25, was a 10th-round pick in 2014 and not among the club's top 30 prospects. He's allowed at least 10 hits per nine innings in each of his professional seasons and was averaging a career-high four walks per nine innings at Triple-A Indianapolis this season. Yet, there he was, pitching against a division rival with the score tied and the Pirates in the middle of a playoff chase.
He allowed back-to-back doubles to start the fifth, capped by this rocket down the line by Jedd Gyorko, to score the go-ahead run:
"McRae’s here for a reason," Hurdle said.
The next batter, Kolten Wong, singled and Gyorko scored on a groundout by Harrison Bader, giving the Cardinals a two-run lead again. McRae then walked the bases loaded in the sixth and one run scored on an infield single when Josh Harrison couldn't collect a ground ball in his glove after attempting a diving stop.
"You gamble when it’s a tie game," Hurdle said.
Rather than pinch-hitting for McRae in the bottom of the sixth with a three-run deficit, Hurdle allowed him to bat, and it resulted in a ground out to end the inning. Hurdle explained to reporters he didn't want to risk using Kela, Kyle Crick or Felipe Vazquez since it could jeopardize their availability for tomorrow and even Monday in Denver. Also, Santana wasn't available after throwing a season-high 35 pitches Friday.
The Pirates had two days off this week and recalled Dovydas Neverauskas, who had a .339 opponents' batting average in 13 2/3 innings with the club earlier this season, to replace Brault. They'll likely make an additional roster move Sunday since McRae won't be able to pitch for at least three days after throwing 78 pitches over three innings.
Nova's performance, preceded by short starts from Archer and Nick Kingham, is the root cause of the Pirates' sudden need for relief help. "It wasn’t my best day," Nova said after allowing four runs on eight hits in his shortest start of the season. He threw 26 pitches in the first, 34 in the third and 21 in the fourth before he was removed for a pinch-hitter.
Nova walked Matt Carpenter to lead off the third and allowed a single to Yadier Molina on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, but he responded with back-to-back strikeouts, much like Archer did one night earlier. However, it wasn't enough to escape the inning. Jose Martinez doubled to right-center on a hanging curveball and Gyorko followed with his run-scoring double to left to make it 3-1. They added another run in the fourth on an RBI single by Molina.
"That curveball there, man," Nova lamented afterwards. "Stuff happens. You want to get the out. Unfortunately I couldn’t get it. It hurts." The Pirates' staff has gone 33 consecutive innings without a clean inning, dating back to the third Tuesday night against the Cubs. They've also allowed the leadoff batter to reach safely in 11 of their last 18 innings and opposing hitters have batted .363 against them over the past three games.
"Our starters have given us 9 1/3 innings our last three starts," Hurdle said. "Your long men are going to pitch at some time. The bridge dynamic is a little different now than it was when we had Brault and Glasnow."
The Pirates responded when Jordy Mercer singled to score Francisco Cervelli, who led off the bottom of the fourth with a single and advanced to third when Josh Harrison grounded into a double play. Jose Osuna, pinch-hitting for Nova, followed with another single and Frazier drove in both of them with this swing:
Gomber intentionally walked Starling Marte before getting Gregory Polanco to ground out to end the inning. Had the Pirates taken the lead, Hurdle said, Rodriguez would have likely pitched the fifth. Rodriguez threw only five pitches Friday night and has produced a 1.57 ERA in 12 appearances over one inning.
The Pirates' offense had seven hits, including a solo home run by David Freese in the second inning, but Cardinals rookie reliever Dakota Hudson threw three perfect innings.
"We’ll continue to find ways to do it, we’ll find the guys capable of doing it and we’re better off getting the lead and getting to the other side of the bullpen," Hurdle said.
1. Cervelli a fine backup first baseman.
Hurdle's experiment was finally put to the test. Prior to landing on the seven-day concussion disabled list July 14, Cervelli began taking ground balls at first base during the Pirates' pregame workouts. The plan was designed to keep Cervelli's bat in the lineup, while not overworking him behind the plate. After all, Elias Diaz has proven capable, batting .295 in 46 starts entering Saturday night.
With a lefty on the mound and Josh Bell still on the disabled list, Hurdle chose to finally use Cervelli at first base, and the 32-year-old showed he can handle the switch. Although he didn't see much action, he did a nice job tracking a one-hopper up the first-base line in the fifth, catching the ball and running over to first for the second out of the inning:
"My mentality right now is to win games, anything I can do to help," Cervelli said. "If they think I can help playing another position, I do it. Personally, I think I can do more catching and that’s what I love to do, but if they need me at short, third, outfield, I’ll do it."
It was Cervelli's first start at first base since April 2016 and only his seventh appearance there in his big-league career. Bell hit in the batting cage and ran prior to first pitch Saturday; however, he could be out beyond next Wednesday, when he's first eligible to be taken off the disabled list. So, Cervelli could give Hurdle another option over the next week.
"I thought he handled himself really well," Hurdle said of Cervelli.
2. From Gregory to Elias to Jordy and back to Elias.
There's been a whole lot of ugly baseball played at PNC Park this week. The Cardinals are a terrible baserunning team, Marte lost a fly ball in the lights Friday,Archer labored through 4 1/3 innings and Marcell Ozuna shouldn't be allowed to play left field. Yet, the Pirates have also — at times — made exceptional defensive plays to overcome some of the poor pitching the past two nights.
For the second time in as many games, Polanco did an outstanding job tracking a ball hit to right and rifling a throw to home plate. He didn't get the runner this time and it turned into a 9-2-6-2 putout executed to near perfection in the second inning. Following a one-out double by Wong in the second, Bader singled to right and Polanco threw home to hold Wong at third.
Diaz immediately saw Bader trying to take the extra base and fired a fine throw over to Mercer at second to catch Bader in a rundown. Mercer chased Bader down and threw home when he saw Wong attempting to score.
3. Mercer gaining traction at the plate again.
In addition to his RBI single in the fourth, Mercer was intentionally walked in the second following Harrison's one-out double. Mercer, a free agent at the end of the season and a candidate to be traded before the Pirates' unprecedented July run, has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games, batting 11 for 36 in that span. He batted .291 in 22 games last month and has reached safely in each of his last 16 games.
His offensive production has been pedestrian this season with a slash line of .257/.323/.389, but Mercer's had two solid months this year. After posting a .642 OPS in the first 27 games, Mercer batted .259 with a .772 OPS in May and a .757 OPS in July. The middle infield was a weakness when the Pirates scuffled in June, but Mercer's production and even the rejuvenation of Frazier should create hope for the final 51 games.