Clint Hurdle insisted before Thursday night’s game that he had no worries about his bullpen.
It didn’t matter to the Pirates manager that his relievers had allowed 12 runs (11 earned) in 14 innings over the first four games of the season. He was unconcerned that the bullpen blew leads of four runs and two runs in the late innings of the previous two games, both losses to the visiting Cardinals.
“I’m of the mindset when I’m talking to them to ‘just to play the game, let’s go get some continuity, let’s go get some rhythm, let’s go get some reps,’” Hurdle said. “I’m confident if that happens, then things will clean themselves up because of the skill level these guys have.”
The relievers backed Hurdle’s faith Thursday night in a 2-0 win over the Reds in the opener of a four-game series at PNC Park.
After Jordan Lyles pitched five effective innings in his Pirates’ debut, Nick Kingham followed with two solid innings. Richard Rodriguez and Felipe Vazquez then reversed their early-season struggles with one inning each to complete the six-hit shutout and help the Pirates improve to 2-3.
“It was not exactly how you would have drawn it up,” Hurdle said, referring to top set-up man Keone Kela not being available after pitching in the previous three games. “But it was a well-pitched game by us, a well-executed game plan by our pitchers.”
Hurdle paused and smiled, the first time in a few days he could do that in his post-game press conference.
“I’ve never managed a game yet where we’ve lost a shutout,” Hurdle cracked. “I told Ray (Searage) before the game that if we pitched a shutout, I knew we’d win the ballgame.”
There was reason for smiles all around, none bigger than the one on Rodriguez’s face after he had two rocky outings to begin the season. Brought in to protect a 1-0 lead in the eighth, he worked around a two-out walk to Eugenio Suarez by striking out Scott Schebler to end the inning on a rising four-seam fastball.
On opening day in Cincinnati, a week earlier, Rodriguez served up a three-run home run to pinch-hitter Derek Dietrich that snapped a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning and propelled the Reds to a 5-3 victory.
In Monday’s home opener, Kolten Wong’s two-run home run off Rodriguez in the seventh drew the Cardinals within 4-2 and they went on to win 6-5 in 11 innings.
“The past two situations, I tried not to put too much thought about it,” Rodriguez said through translator Mike Gonzalez. “I just wanted to trust what I was capable of doing and trust the support that (bullpen coach) Euky (Rojas) and Ray have poured into me.
“My mentality was 'let’s just go.' It’s the beginning of the season. We’re just getting started. I’m not making any excuses but what happened in the past, happened in the past. And I was ready to flush it.”
After the Pirates added a run in the bottom of the eighth, Vazquez came on and held the two-run lead for his first save in two opportunities. Yet the ninth inning was not drama-free.
Vazquez struck out Matt Kemp with one out, but the pinch-hitter reached first base on a wild-pitch third strike. Jose Iglesias then lined a double to center field to put runners on second and third.
However, Vazquez struck out pinch-hitters Curt Casali and Kyle Farmer to end it. He caught Casali looking at a slider then got Farmer to swing through a 97-mph four-seamer.
Vazquez retired just two of the four batters he faced last Sunday in a 5-0 win over the Reds in a non-save situation. He blew the save in the home opener when he allowed Jose Martinez’s tying double with one out in the ninth.
“I just had to keep executing pitches,” Vazquez said. “The season is just, like, three days old. It’s not like we’re in the middle of the season. We just forget as quick and we can and move on.”
That is also what Kingham did.
In his only other outing of the young season, Kingham entered the home opener in the 11th inning with the scored tied, the bases loaded and two outs. He and Francisco Cervelli got crossed up on a pitch, enabling Paul DeJong to score the winning run on a passed ball.
Kingham threw 21 of 30 pitches for strikes Thursday night before turning it over to Rodriguez and Vazquez.
“That’s what we did last year, that’s what we’re kind of building ourselves around,” Kingham said. “I think (the pitching staff) is going to be the heart and soul of this team.
“That’s how you win. The starter gets through five or six good innings, then the bullpen shuts it down. That’s how the good teams win.”
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GOOD
Lyles scattered three hits after being activated from the injured list before the game. He had been hampered by a strained right side.
Signed to a one-year, $2.05-million contract as a free agent in December, the nine-year veteran walked three – one intentional – and struck out two. He threw 80 pitches, 48 for strikes.
Lyles could have pitched longer. However, Hurdle lifted him early to ensure the 29-year-old would leave on a good note.
“I’ve talked to a lot of pitchers about this and when you leave a game and it’s clean, it leaves you with a better feeling than if you go out there one more inning and there’s a mark,” Hurdle said. “There’s value in having a clean outing, especially someone in Jordan’s case — making his first start with a new team.
“You always want to go more but we need to be honest self-evaluators. It was important for me to see him leave with a clean outing, but we have no intentions of him being a five-inning pitcher.”
Lyles entered the game with a 31-52 lifetime record and 5.28 ERA. However, the Pirates believe he can be a reclamation project if he throws his curveball more, though Hurdle was very impressed by Lyles’ changeup.
Lyles threw the changeup 28 times, more than any other pitch, and got four swinging and four called strikes.
Lyles would have liked to pitch longer.
"It's a good start to get things going," he said. "Five innings, not thrilled about that. Going forward, definitely going to look for going deeper into games. But overall, not complaining about some scoreless innings."
THE BAD
The Pirates' struggles to hit in the clutch continued as they were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Their batting average is .160 (8-for-50) in those situations.
The lone hit with RISP was an RBI single by Josh Bell in the eighth inning. Kevin Newman drove in the game’s first run with a ground out in the seventh.
“We’ve had opportunities,” Hurdle said. “We talked a little as a group today. The game doesn’t know when the game’s important. Whether it’s the second inning, the fifth inning, the sixth inning, you have to capitalize when you have a chance to plate a run with less than two outs. It has to be a collective mindset.
“Normally, we’ve built innings by being athletic but then we become robotic when it is time to drive in runs.”
THE OTHER SIDE
When the Reds finished last in the National League Central each of the past four seasons, scoring runs was never a problem. However, their offensive output has been anemic so far in 2019, and they lost their fifth straight game to drop to 1-5.
Thursday marked the third time the Reds have been shut out in their first six games. Their .169 batting average is the lowest in the NL.
Schebler, the center fielder, is 1-for-20, while left fielder Jesse Winker is 1-for-17 and Kemp is 1-for-13.
"We had some good at-bats," first-year manager David Bell said. "We hit the ball hard. So we're going to focus on that. It's going to turn. We just really need to stay confident. The great thing is that our pitching is doing a great job."
THE DATA
• Attendance was 8,523. However, that count is the number of tickets sold and it appeared there was less than half that many fans in the stands.
• Pirates starting pitchers have allowed just five runs in five games and have a 1.55 ERA in 29 innings.
• Lyles lowered his career ERA at PNC Park to 6.67. It was 8.03 coming into the game.
• The Pirates were shut out for six innings by Reds starter Tyler Mahle. He had been 0-3 with a 4.91 ERA in four previous starts against the Pirates.
• Reds first baseman Joey Votto has 104 career hits at PNC Park, third-most among visiting players behind Brandon Phillips (123) and Yadier Molina (106).
THE INJURIES
• Corey Dickerson, outfielder, was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a strained right shoulder. He is likely out through the end of April.
• Gregory Polanco, outfielder, is making progress in Florida as he recovers from left shoulder surgery. He's playing seven innings in extended spring training games and is expected back sometime in May.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder, out with a broken right hand, has began gripping activities and simulated throws.
• Elias Diaz, catcher, is recovering from a virus and started a minor-league rehab assignment Thursday night at high-A Bradenton, going 0-for-3 with one strikeout.
• Jose Osuna, first baseman/outfielder, has a strained neck and is participating in all baseball activities except throwing.
• Dovydas Neverauskas, right-handed reliever, is recovering from a strained left oblique and pitched a simulated game Tuesday at extended spring training.
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates and Reds meet in the second game of the series at 7:05 tomorrow night at at PNC Park. Joe Musgrove (0-0, 0.00) is scheduled to make his first start of the season, facing Sonny Gray (0-1, 6.75). I will be handling the coverage.
THE COVERAGE
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