SAN FRANCISCO — Trevor Williams, the pitcher originally scheduled to start at AT&T Park Friday night, sat in the dugout with a hood over his head and chatted with the Pirates' other four starters, all of whom were given an additional day of rest at the behest of Clint Hurdle.
They watched as Clay Holmes, the 25-year-old pitcher recalled from Triple-A to spell the rotation with a spot start, and Casey Sadler, one of six available relievers in the bullpen, unraveled in a 13-10 loss to the Giants with the Pirates in the middle of a playoff chase. While the club's rotation allowed only seven earned runs in its previous four starts, Holmes was tagged for seven in only 2 2/3 innings and Sadler allowed four.
Their dynamic offense, backed by Francisco Cervelli's grand slam, had 17 hits, including six for extra bases, but was unable to overcome an eight-run deficit, snapping their three-game winning streak. It cost the Pirates, now 60-57, a game in the standings, as they're now eight back in the Central Division and five in the Wild Card race. Hurdle admitted the gamble didn't pay off. And one of his starters wished Hurdle would have consulted with the rotation following the series in Denver.
"I understand why they’re doing it for us, but I would have liked to see a decision made after the Colorado series to talk to the starters and see where we’re at, see if we need the extra day," Joe Musgrove told DKPittsburghSports.com. "I don’t personally think we needed another day of rest. Our starting five’s been throwing the ball really well and every game matters at this point. That’s not to say Clay couldn’t have come up here and gotten the job done. We had confidence in him."
Holmes joined the club on the taxi squad prior to first pitch Thursday and Hurdle announced afterwards the Pirates intended to start the former ninth-round pick against the Giants. The plan was to give his starters additional rest after the three-game series at Coors Field; however, Hurdle said the decision was made following the All-Star break.
His rotation's success didn't change the plan.
Entering Thursday, the club led the National League with a 3.05 ERA and 20-9 record since July 7. Also, the rotation produced a 2.20 ERA and pitched at least through the sixth inning in eight of its previous 10 games. Williams has allowed only two runs over his last 22 innings.Musgrove has pitched through the seventh inning in five of his last six starts and gave up only one earned run in seven Monday at Coors Field. He has a 2.43 ERA over his last six starts and has pitched only 74 innings because of two stints on the disabled list.
Jameson Taillon threw 107 pitches Tuesday against the Rockies for his second complete game of the season and owns a 3.05 ERA over his past 13 starts, having not allowed more than three runs in a game since May 22. Chris Archer showed progress Wednesday despite almost missing the start because of an illness.
The group had two off-days last week with one coming Monday in Minnesota, as well as the All-Star break last month, which provided Musgrove with nine days between starts. Ivan Nova, who pitched six innings Thursday night against the Giants, has made 22 starts and his 124 1/3 innings are the second-most on the staff.
"I felt comfortable going in," Hurdle said. "Obviously, the game can change things as you go. That was a decision we made beforehand, though, understanding that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t."
Although Holmes threw six scoreless innings in his previous big-league start against the Brewers July 14, he lasted only 2 1/3 innings against the Dodgers 10 days earlier. The 6-foot-5 right-hander emerged as the Pirates' second depth starter in Triple-A, posting a 1.99 ERA with 57 strikeouts in his previous nine starts in the minors.
His sinker topped out at 99 mph against the Brewers, while his curveball had extra bite. Neither pitch was a weapon for him against the Giants. Holmes' velocity was down — the sinker averaged 93.3 mph — and Andrew McCutchen put a charge behind a hanging curveball for a home run to lead off the bottom of the first:
"There was some things early there I was missing and probably trying to adjust too much," Holmes said. "Maybe trying to do too much a little early. Kind of led to some of the bad pitches. Overall, the command wasn’t what it has been. I’ll go back and evaluate where things went wrong. I look forward to bouncing back."
Four of the next five batters reached, including back-to-back RBI singles by Austin Slater and Alen Hanson, in a 25-pitch, three-run first. Holmes escaped the second unscathed thanks to a spectacular leaping catch by David Freese at third base, but his erratic command led to a pitfall in the third.
He walked the leadoff batter, Joe Panik singled through the right side on a pitch down the middle, Derek Holland reached on an infield single and Holmes walked McCutchen with the bases loaded to drive in a run. Buster Posey followed with a two-run single to left, and Hurdle exited the dugout to pull Holmes after only 63 pitches, 33 of which were strikes:
"We’d seen Clayton so good with the command last time out," Hurdle said. "I don’t know [why it wasn't tonight] and I’m not going to guess and speculate. The secondary pitches weren’t playing. The fastball command was off, which complicates things for sure."
Sadler, one of only six available relievers after Dovydas Neverauskas was demoted to make room for Holmes, allowed an RBI single on his first pitch to Evan Longoria. Sadler, whose appearance Friday was his first in the majors since April 12, 2015, then allowed three runs on four hits in the fourth. McCutchen had four walks after his homer in the first, Posey had four hits, and Hanson, a former Pirates prospect, went 3 for 5 with three RBIs.
Sadler twice batted with runners in scoring position, first with two on and the Pirates down five in the fourth, and with a runner on third and the club down eight in the sixth. Rather than having to burn multiple high-leverage relievers, Hurdle opted to get as much as he could out of Sadler, no matter the cost.
"At that point in time, that was a decision I made to go the other way," Hurdle said of not pinch-hitting for Sadler. Hurdle will still need reinforcements from Triple-A since Sadler threw 85 pitches the past two games, and Richard Rodriguez will also be unavailable after throwing 46. Kyle Crick allowed a run in the eighth.
Still, they only trailed by four runs after Cervelli's grand slam in the seventh, and Josh Bell came within feet of cutting the deficit to one when he had a ball caught at the wall in center to end the inning. The Pirates scored two more, including one on an RBI triple by Colin Moran in the eighth, and another in the ninth on a solo home run by Adeiny Hechavarria.
It still wasn't enough. The loss breathed life into the Giants, a fellow Wild Card contender now back to one game under .500, and complicated matters for the Pirates' pitching staff, although it now lines up the starters to pitch every five days. Williams will start Saturday, followed by Musgrove Sunday, with Taillon and Archer pitching against the Twins Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
"It is a little bit [frustrating]," Musgrove said. "Our starting five’s been throwing the ball really well. We all had quality starts our last time out. I don’t think this throws a huge wrench in anything for anybody, but we want to be out there as much as we can. Every game matters at this point."
1. It was another fine performance by the offense.
Cervelli shrugged when asked about his grand slam. "We still lost," he said. Yes, but he willed them back into the game. When the Pirates loaded the bases with two walks and a single, Cervelli turned on this fastball for his 11th home run and career-high 46th RBI:
"What I see is we’re tough," Cervelli said. "We’re tough, man. We don’t give up. They made some changes in the lineup, and the guys came in the game and stepped up. That’s the way we are because we’re chasing something, and we’re not going to give up."
Cervelli went 3 for 5 with five RBIs, Bell also had three hits and Jordy Mercer went 3 for 5 with two RBIs. Freese also had two hits and drove in a run in the fifth. Hurdle slowly pulled his starters with the deficit at eight, lifting Mercer, Freese and Starling Marte. Their replacements contributed, too. Jordan Luplow scored twice after a single and a walk, Moran's RBI triple was his first extra-base hit since July 9 and Hechavarria had two hits.
The Pirates went 6 for 17 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base, three of which by Sadler, whose two at-bats were his first in the majors in three years. "You never know how the game’s going to play late," Hurdle said. "You don’t know. To make that kind of, the offense plays. These guys continue to push, they continue to show up."
2. Frazier in right was a disaster.
This was a disaster. Rather than giving Gregory Polanco an off-day in Denver, Hurdle chose to do so at AT&T Park, perhaps the most difficult assignment for a right fielder.
It didn't go well.
Panik hit a line drive to right in the fourth that turned Frazier around and led to a double and Panik scored one batter later. Frazier's inaccurate throw in the first also led to a run. Frazier had not started a big-league game in right field since May 24 and had not appeared in one there since June 7. The trouble is the Pirates don't have a reliable backup in right field, and Frazier's had little time to take reps there.
He deserved the start, batting .464 in 13 games since being promoted from Triple-A, and Polanco needed the day off after starting 23 games in a row. After all, the Pirates have always wanted to be cautious with his workload considering his lingering hamstring injury last season. But Frazier was ill-equipped for the assignment, and the Pirates could not afford to make any fielding mistakes considering their situation on the mound.
3. Hanson burns his former employer.
Hanson never realized his potential with the Pirates. Hanson, twice among Baseball America's top 100, was designated for assignment by the club last June after appearing in only 64 games in the major leagues. They gave up on him, opting instead to give 25-man roster spots to Phil Gosselin and Max Moroff.
Hanson caught on with the White Sox, appearing in 69 games the rest of the season, but he's reached new heights with the Giants. He had an RBI triple Thursday night and followed with another brilliant performance Friday, driving in three runs and making a pair of diving catches in left field.
The 25-year-old switch-hitter is batting .282 with six home runs and 32 RBIs in 1 games. He started in left field Friday and has also appeared at second, third and short this season. Meanwhile, the Pirates are carrying Luplow on their bench, while Sean Rodriguez is likely to rejoin them following his stint on the 10-day disabled list. Sure, Hanson has a pedestrian .306 on-base percentage, but his OPS is nearly 200 points higher than Rodriguez'.