Seven innings. Eighty-five pitches. One earned run. Five strikeouts. No walks. Jameson Taillon did his part Wednesday evening at PNC Park, sending the Pirates into the eighth inning with a two-run lead over the visiting Cardinals.
Because of course he did. After a somewhat wobbly opening outing last week in Cincinnati, Taillon told Dejan Kovacevic we'd just witnessed his floor. That was as bad as he could pitch.
"That's where it bottoms out. Right there," he said.
After Wednesday night's performance? Yeah, you believe him.
Taillon's performance lacked pizazz and sizzle — there were no Chris Archer-like backward sprints off the mound — but it was surgical in all the right ways and, across the board, an upgrade over the opener: He struck out more batters (five vs. four), he walked fewer (zero vs. two), he allowed fewer earned runs (one vs. four) and he pitched more (85 pitches in seven innings vs. 83 pitches in six innings). It was all the Pirates could ask of their starter on this night.
But maybe they should've asked for just a little more.
The Pirates pulled Taillon after a full seven innings, and their imminent victory went to the bench with him. A 3-1 lead turned into a 3-3 tie almost instantly, as Keone Kela gave up a two-run home run to Harrison Bader with nobody out.
"You know, whenever you take your starting pitcher out and you give up runs out of the bullpen, it never looks good," Clint Hurdle said afterward. "You leave your starting pitcher in, if he gives up runs, that doesn't look good... I think we all felt confident moving forward from there."
Taillon wasn't knocking the decision to turn to Kela and company either.
"With those two guys in the backend of our pen, I definitely understood it," Taillon told reporters at his locker. "I felt fresh and stuff, my pitch count was at a good place, but I didn't fight back at all on that... Most nights — more nights than not — those guys on the backend are taking care of us."
Yet, if the season opener represented Taillon's floor, tonight felt like just the second level of a downtown high-rise. There's more there, and Taillon did flash some of it with his back against the wall tonight.
Opening the seventh inning against Paul DeJong, this happened:
It was almost identical to Taillon's outing in Cincinnati, when Jose Peraza took him deep on the first pitch of the seventh, kicking off his downward slide and eventual removal from the game.
Tonight, however, the story ended differently. Instead of cracking and crumbling, Taillon responded with some of this:
The parallel was not lost on him. In fact, acknowledging it gave him comfort.
"I was aware that I had given up a homer to lead off the seventh in my last outing too," Taillon told reporters inside the team's locker room at PNC Park after the game. "Instead of, 'Oh, here we go again,' it's, 'I'm not going to let this happen again.' "
And he didn't let that mid-inning collapse happen again... which only makes everyone wonder just how much more he could've squeezed out Wednesday evening.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GOOD
See: Taillon, Jameson above for starters. That was not only "the good" but "the best" from this game for the Pirates.
Let's give a little love to Erik Gonzalez as well, though. The oft-criticized shortstop did this in the first to close the top of the inning:
Then he followed that up at the plate to kickstart the team's two-run second inning:
Granted, that's where the highlights end for him, but any sign of life is a positive trend where Gonzalez is concerned.
In a more abstract way, it's also good the Pirates are in these games. I mean, they're right there. Some slightly better work out of the bullpen or some slightly better hitting down the stretch and the entire season has a different feel right now. They went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position in this contest. They left runners stranded on third with less than two outs on three separate occasions. Convert one of them home, and the Pirates win the game. It's that close.
THE BAD
Everything John Perrotto said about the Pirates' bullpen following their home-opener loss to the Cardinals ... we can basically just copy/paste that here.
It started with Kela allowing the Cardinals to tie in the eighth, and it ended with Nick Burdi struggling in the 10th, giving up three hits and a run while notching precisely zero outs before getting yanked for Francisco Liriano.
Coming to the rescue, Liriano... loaded the bases with a walk before throwing a wild pitch that allowed Harrison Bader to score from third.
Yikes.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Cardinals deserve credit in all this. The Pirates aren't just blowing leads — the Cardinals took over these two games late and executed when it mattered most.
Whether it was Wong's two-run blast off Richard Rodriguez Monday or Paul DeJong's tonight, they're snatching wins, and they're not relying on two of their biggest names — Paul Goldschmidt and Matt Carpenter — to get it done.
But those two names are still there — and opposing pitchers are well aware of the dynamic they bring to the plate.
"He's [Goldschmidt is] just another dude in the middle of that lineup," Taillon said. "Just when you think you have him set up or something, he can pump you and take you deep and change the game... Him and Carpenter back-to-back to lead off the game, that's a tough one."
THE DATA
• Time of game: 3 hours, 30 minutes
• What a difference three years can make. On April 3, 2016, Liriano led the Pirates to an opening-day 4-1 victory over the Cardinals with 10 strikeouts and an RBI in the second inning. Tonight, Liriano... well, you read about that above.
• In 14 home starts last season, Taillon was charged with more than three earned runs just once. Make that 14-for-15 as the ticker runs into 2019.
• Jordan Lyles, tomorrow's expected starter, is 4-1 with a 4.53 ERA in 14 career games against the Reds.
• After their two-error performance against the Cardinals in the home opener, the Pirates were clean there tonight. No player committed an error.
THE INJURIES
• Corey Dickerson, outfielder, is day-to-day with a right shoulder injury. He did pinch hit tonight against the Cardinals, grounding out in his lone plate appearance.
• Gregory Polanco, outfielder, is making progress in Florida. He's playing seven-inning games and is expected back around May. “He’s been throwing at some appropriate distances that he needs to throw and show to himself and to the staff that he’s ready for Major League competition,” Pirates head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk said before tonight's game.
• Elias Diaz, catcher, is recovering from a virus and is set to begin his Major League rehab assignment with the Bradenton Marauders tomorrow.
• Chad Kuhl and Edgar Santana continue to rehab from Tommy John surgery. Their recovery is progressing as expected with flat-ground throwing.
• Dovydas Neverauskas threw a simulated game yesterday in Florida. Tomczyk called the initial response “positive.”
• Lonnie Chisenhall, out with a broken finger, initiated gripping activities and simulated throws today.
• Jose Osuna initiated baseball activities today, swinging with “no reservations.” He has not resumed throwing yet.
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates return tomorrow to face the Reds at PNC Park. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. John Perrotto will be on the scene.
THE COVERAGE
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