I could make a point about the Pirates' stellar pitching and how it hasn't received any support from the team's offense.
Or I could let a longtime observer of the team who lives and breathes Pirates baseball sum it up in three words.
"Wasting good pitching," I overheard this person say near the press elevator following the Pirates' 2-1 defeat against the Diamondbacks Tuesday night at PNC Park. It was all he said — and all he needed to say — about the Pirates' performance.
Because they did waste rock-solid outings from Trevor Williams, Richard Rodriguez and Keone Kela on Tuesday evening. In seven innings, Williams gave up four hits, two earned runs and one walk. He struck out four. Rodriguez gave up two hits in the eighth. Kela gave up none in the ninth.
When your pitchers do that, your team should win the game. But in this one, the Pirates went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and put up a goose egg after Francisco Cervelli's one-run double in the second.
"It’s baseball," Williams was saying at his locker after the game. "There [are] going to be changes throughout the year. We’re going to be giving up some runs, and the offense is going to pick us back up. It’s the ebbs and the flows of the season.”
Early in 2019, however, it's a pretty one-sided equation. There are no "ebbs and flows." It's one half performing at a championship level and the other half floundering.
The pitching has been great. The Pirates boast an NL-best 3.02 combined ERA. That mark is also good for second in MLB. Four of their starters — Joe Musgrove (5), Williams (14), Chris Archer (16) and Jameson Taillon (30) — rank in the top 30 of MLB in ERA. The fifth starter, Jordan Lyles, has posted a ridiculous 0.53 ERA through 17 innings thus far, narrowly missing the cutoff of 21 innings pitched to qualify for the rankings. If he qualified at 0.53, he'd be first.
But then you look at the hitting. The Pirates' 73 runs, 160 hits, 71 RBIs and 16 home runs all rank 28th in the Major Leagues. Yes, out of 30. I don't need to continue. You see where it's going. The signs are there.
In this game, the Pirates mustered four singles and three walks after their one-run second inning. That's just not going to get it done — no matter how great the pitchers perform.
To their credit, the Diamondbacks capitalized. They didn't get much — and they didn't need much — from their offense, but Adam Jones tallied a two-out RBI in the fourth inning before David Peralta did this in the sixth:
That's Jarrod Dyson sliding into home and... getting called out?! Yes, he was initially ruled out, but a challenge came flying in, and the decision was easy: He was in by a mile. That's your game-winning run. The Diamondbacks take a 2-0 lead in the four-game series, and the Pirates lose three in a row for the first time this season.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GOOD
Pitching. The "good" here is obviously the pitching. But if we're going to criticize the bullpen when they struggle, we also need to acknowledge when they succeed. Rodriguez and Kela combined for two innings of work, giving up zero runs and keeping the deficit at one run for the Pirates' offense. That's all you can ask.
Hurdle acknowledged their contributions after the game:
Oh, and that play from Cervelli Hurdle referenced above? Yeah, it was pretty sweet:
Too far. #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/L6eeLbYcnx
— Pirates (@Pirates) April 24, 2019
Add in Williams' line, and you've got the foundation of a win.
"That's a very aggressive swinging club that I felt he kept off-balance throughout the evening," Hurdle said of Williams. "Really good effort."
THE BAD
Bottom of the ninth. Two outs. Jason Martin on second. Cole Tucker up to bat — wait, hold that thought. Jung Ho Kang up to bat.
With the game on the line, Hurdle sent in Kang, who is batting .140 on the year, for the pinch-hitting opportunity. Kang is the definition of "boom or bust" from spring training right through the regular season thus far, and Hurdle was looking for a boom.
"[Diamondbacks closer Greg] Holland's been somewhat of a reverse-split guy. Kang's actually seen him," Hurdle said after the game. "[We] tried to give it a shot, maybe ride a long ball out of there. That's why [we chose Kang to pinch-hit]."
Kang hit a soft fly ball to shallow left field, and that was the game. With a runner on second, you're looking for consistency and a hit — any hit — and Kang isn't the greatest in that department this year. While Hurdle's justification makes sense on the surface, it's hard not to question in hindsight.
THE OTHER SIDE
We can call the Pirates' offense anemic and lambaste the hitters all day, but it takes a solid pitcher to exploit their weaknesses, and that's exactly what Luke Weaver provided for 6 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and allowed just one run on six hits.
He started out slow, but he flipped the switch after the third inning, and that was a wrap.
“Fifty-six [pitches] through three then it was 27 pitches the next three innings," Hurdle said. "So he sharpened up. There [are] some pitches he went to, the changeup was a big pitch for him. That’s one thing, we had an opportunity [that] slid away from us in the third. We had an opportunity to score a run and we didn’t and they did. Kind of flipped some momentum right there."
Cervelli, who had arguably the most success of any Pirates batter today against Weaver, summarized what makes him so effective.
"When he’s on, he’s going to get you out," Cervelli said after the game. "And he’s going to get you out quick[ly] because he’s not going to be throwing pitches around to try to get you that way. No. He’s going to make you swing the bat, and it was good. Credit to him.”
THE DATA
• That's the Diamondbacks' eighth straight win at PNC Park.
• With no hits in four at-bats, Josh Bell snaps a career-best nine-game hitting streak.
• Gregory Polanco was the only Pirate to register a multi-hit game today. That moves him to 4-for-8 since returning from injury Monday.
• Cole Tucker went hitless for the first time in the Major Leagues tonight, going 0-for-3 at the plate.
• Time of game: 2 hours, 53 minutes
THE INJURIES
• Bryan Reynolds, outfielder, left the game early after going 1-for-2 with what was described as "left quadriceps muscle discomfort."
“I just know it tightened up," Hurdle relayed. "It’s the leg that he had had some challenges with throughout spring training and there’s no risk because you can’t risk it right now. The ball’s hit in the gap, what’s he going to do? Where’s he going to go? ... He’s going to say he can play. And he did. He said he’d be alright. Well… Sometimes you just need to say, OK, but you’re not going to run. You’re not going to play anymore."
• Starling Marte, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a bruised abdominal wall and bruised right quad and is out indefinitely.
• Erik Gonzalez, shortstop, was placed on the 60-day IL with a fractured right clavicle and is out until at least late-June.
• Corey Dickerson, outfielder, has a strained right shoulder. He is throwing and hitting but the expectation is for him to be out until late April/early May.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder, is out with a broken right hand and on a rehab assignment with Indianapolis. He is 1-for-6 in two games.
• Kevin Newman, infielder, has a lacerated right ring finger and will begin a rehab assignment tomorrow with Indianapolis.
• Jacob Stallings, catcher, was placed on the IL on Sunday with a cervical neck strain and is out indefinitely.
• Jose Osuna, first baseman/outfielder, is in extended spring training in Bradenton, Fla. and participating in all baseball activities.
THE SCHEDULE
The third game of the four-game series is tonight at 7:05 p.m. I'll be back in the clubhouse for the early session beginning at 3:35, then Dejan Kovacevic and Matt Sunday will take over for the full coverage of the game. The early session should be interesting, as head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk will meet with media to provide his weekly injury update.
THE COVERAGE
All of our expanded baseball coverage, including Indy Watch by Matt Welch, Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, and Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, can be found on our team page.