Only a few minutes had passed since Clint Hurdle left the third base dugout when he and his staff were discussing how to rejuvenate his dormant offense. He only broke from the meeting to talk to reporters following the latest chapter of the Pirates' historic slump, a 6-1 loss to the Braves Tuesday night at PNC Park.
Hurdle typically defends his hitters' at-bats amid a slump. Not this time. Not after they narrowly avoided being shut out for a fourth time in six games and have scored in only four of their last 56 innings. His offense's ineptitude includes only six runs in six games, and they have only five hits in their last 62 tries with runners in scoring position.
It's spoiled an impeccable run by his pitching stuff, and more important, the slump has them falling out of the playoff chase. They've lost eight of their last 11 games and are back under .500, 63-64, with 6 1/2 games separating them from the second Wild Card spot.
"Can we adjust the lineup, look at some different things?" Hurdle said. "We’ve talked about it. It’s been hard. These guys are battling. Guys are doing different things. They’re trying to change up some things. Some guys are swinging more, some guys are swinging at spin, swinging at velocity. Coming out early, not taking so much. We’re not getting the results we want."
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCOREGregory Polanco's 391-foot home run in the ninth inning spoiled the shutout; however, it was one of only five hits for an offense that was the toast of the National League only three weeks ago. The Pirates batted a league-best .318 with 23 home runs and 73 runs during their 11-game winning streak last month.
That followed a 45-game stretch from May 18 through July 7 when the Pirates won only 14 games and scored the fewest runs in the National League. It dropped them 12 1/2 games back in the Central Division and led Neal Huntington to consider selling at the non-waiver trade deadline. Their historic run caused him to do the opposite, yet the same issues that plagued his offense in June have popped back up in the middle of a playoff race.
The Pirates have hit only three home runs and have the fourth-highest ground-ball rate in the National League over their last eight games. They also lead the league by hitting into 15 double plays in that span, although seven of those came against the Cubs last Friday. Seemingly every hitter in the lineup is struggling, and they can't seem to generate momentum, as they displayed again against the Braves (70-55).
Following an eight-pitch first inning, the Pirates had their first three batters reach safely in the second, including a fielder's choice, to put runners on the corners with one out. Adeiny Hechavarria swung at the second pitch he saw, an elevated fastball, to ground into the Pirates' 15th double play in the past week:
"We hit some balls hard tonight," Hurdle told reporters. "We got nothing for it. We had a couple opportunities when that one hit can change things around. We’re not getting it. I don’t have an answer for that right now, but we’re looking at some things, we’re talking about some things that I’ll get back to when I’m finished here."
Kevin Gausman, the Braves' top trade deadline acquisition, retired the next 10 batters he faced. The Pirates didn't make him work much, either. He needed only 11 pitches to retire the side in the third, nine in the fourth and seven in the fifth. Adam Frazier grounded out on the first pitch he saw in the fourth, and Francisco Cervelli flied out to right on the first pitch of the fifth.
Ivan Nova, meanwhile, needed only 29 pitches to get through three innings and didn't have a baserunner until he had one out in the fourth. His lone mistake was this two-seam fastball to Dansby Swanson in the fifth that didn't get low enough in the strike zone:
Nova retired the side in the sixth following that two-run homer, but he was lifted for a pinch-hitter with one out in the bottom half after throwing just 78 pitches. "In the situation we’re in right now, it can be any of the guys," Nova said. "We need to score. It’s been tough the last week. A lot of good pitching. The guys from the bullpen have done a tremendous job, not only the starting pitching. But we have to be able to score runs. It’s tough, it’s tough."
Josh Harrison, out of the lineup while recovering from a hamstring injury, and Corey Dickerson followed with consecutive one-out singles. The Pirates loaded the bases with a fielder's choice and a leadoff walk. Gausman was reeling. His command was shoddy for the first time since his 18-pitch second inning and Josh Bell, the Pirates' cleanup hitter, was stepping into the batter's box.
Bell swung at the first pitch, a fastball low and away:
"It was a really good pitch down and away," Bell said. "It was a strike. I just ran out of barrel there and kind of leaked out. Definitely tough to make a first-pitch out like that. I guess I just got a little bit too aggressive." It's as close as the Pirates would come to threatening. Michael Feliz allowed three more runs in the seventh, including another two-run homer by Swanson, and the Braves tacked on a run in the ninth off Clay Holmes.
Starling Marte, benched Monday for lack of effort and out of the lineup Tuesday after visiting a doctor, grounded out in the eighth after entering in a double-switch. Adam Frazier, starting in center with Marte out, went 0 for 4. Dickerson, Polanco, Bell and Cervelli each had a hit. However, the offense still went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left five on base.
Cervelli was stranded at third in the seventh after hitting a leadoff double, and the Pirates were already down six runs when Polanco hit a ball over the Clemente Wall. "Going back to the basics," Bell said. "Trusting that we’re all here for a reason. It definitely gets tough. A week goes by and we’re not swinging the bat the way we know that we can. ... We got hot there for a little bit. We’re just looking to flip that switch and get hot again."
What can Hurdle do, aside from working with hitters on specific adjustments? Dickerson has eight hits in his last 17 at-bats and is batting .312 in 26 games as the leadoff hitter. Polanco's batted just .174 over his last 17 games; however, he's been the Pirates' lone power threat this month, leading the team with 20 home runs and 69 RBIs. Marte's batted .293 in 37 starts as the No. 2 hitter, but he's batted just .167 in his last 17 games.
At the beginning of a three-game series against the Mets on June 26, Hurdle emphasized the importance of winning and attention to detail during a scouting meeting with players. They soon responded with their best stretch of baseball all season. It doesn't sound like there will be an impassioned speech now, though he made it clear there is a sense of urgency for all involved.
"Yelling at people sometimes, that doesn’t make things better, either," Hurdle said. "You make your points, you talk about facts. You don’t worry about feelings. You address them. These are grown men in there, for the most part, who have all gone through challenges before. We have a challenge in front of us right now that we’ve got to figure out."
1. Taking its toll.
The Pirates' rotation owns a 3.23 ERA dating back to July 11, the fifth-best mark in the majors during that span. Nova allowed only four hits and had mostly pinpoint command with his two-seam fastball. Even his curveball and changeup looked as good as they have all season.
There is a fallout to the offense not scoring runs, though. Hurdle was forced to use Edgar Santana, Kyle Crick, Keone Kela and Felipe Vazquez in tied or one-run games over the past few days. Richard Rodriguez also had to throw 37 pitches in extra innings Sunday, and Steven Brault was unavailable after throwing 42 pitches Monday, which forced the Pirates to recall Holmes before first pitch Tuesday.
Hurdle's plan to pinch-hit Nova was a success since Harrison singled in a 26-pitch inning for Gausman. However, they failed to score and Hurdle had to turn to Feliz, a reliever who hadn't pitched in the 10 days since being recalled from Triple-A. It was a disaster. Feliz, acquired as part of the Gerrit Cole trade, allowed an RBI double to Kurt Suzuki and threw a hanging slider on Swanson's second two-run homer.
Feliz needed 30 pitches to get through the seventh inning, and Holmes didn't fare much better. The 25-year-old starter walked the first batter he faced, although he retired three in a row. He then loaded the bases in the ninth with a hit-by-pitch, infield single and walk before a run scored on a wild pitch.
"There's no other options out there," Hurdle said. "We've used our bridge guys to get to our closer three or four days behind in games."
2. Newman struggling.
Are people still calling for Kevin Newman to start over Hechavarria? Newman is now 0 for 6 since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, where he was having a career year. A first-round draft pick in 2015, Newman batted .302 with 30 doubles, four home runs and 35 RBIs in 109 games for Indy.
Meanwhile, Hechavarria is batting .286/.344/.464 in 10 games since joining the Pirates and is playing outstanding defense, snaring a hard liner from Ronald Acuña in the fifth inning and throwing to first for the final out. Hechavarria is a superior defender and a better hitter right now than Newman. Hurdle needs to play his best lineup, and you can expect Harrison to be part of it for the finale, health permitting.
This isn't the time to force a rookie into the lineup.
3. Bell needed now more than ever.
The Pirates need more out of Bell. He barreled up a fastball over the plate for a single in the second, ending an ugly week-long slump in which he had only three hits in 20 at-bats, but he followed with the bad at-bat in the sixth. The 26-year-old is now batting .263 with only eight home runs. He's shown maturity in some areas, particularly his effectiveness against left-handed pitching, but the Pirates need him to be the middle-of-the-order threat he was last season, when he hit 26 home runs with a team-high 90 RBIs.
This team needs a consistent source of power. With how the game has evolved — more strikeouts and fewer balls in play — it's difficult for a team to rely simply on manufacturing runs, especially when it has a number of streaky hitters, including Polanco and Marte. If Bell doesn't emerge as the power threat, somebody needs to.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Pirates vs. Braves, PNC Park, Aug. 21, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS