"Four hits ... one of them was Taillon!"
Clint Hurdle's postgame press conference inside PNC Park concluded, but the Pirates manager couldn't contain that last bit before leaving the podium. There was no question provoking it, no need for him to say it at all. But that's what frustration will do.
And the Pirates are certainly feeling their fair share of frustration after a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the Diamondbacks Thursday afternoon, a result that completed a four-game sweep for the visitors.
The last team to sweep the Pirates at home in four games? Yep. The Diamondbacks did it last year from June 21 – 24, defeating the Pirates 9-3, 2-1, 7-2 and 3-0 for a combined score of 21-6.
"Ever since [20]17, the Diamondbacks in the North Shore has been problematic," Hurdle was saying during his postgame presser. "This one's over with. It's done. We can't get a shot to beat them until next year, and our focus needs to be on what we need to do next in [Los Angeles]."
The Diamondbacks' dominance in Pittsburgh provides an interesting storyline, but to Hurdle, it's just that: A storyline. There's no real substance to it. Because when you break it down...
"They've played better than us," he said with a shrug of the shoulders. "At the end of the day, they've played, they've pitched, they've hit better than us. And that's usually what dictates what happens."
In this one, it was top gun vs. top gun, as Jameson Taillon matched up with Zack Greinke. Only it was never really a fair fight. Taillon put the Pirates in an early hole by giving up two runs in the first, and the game was a wrap from there.
"Today was his best stuff and it wasn’t my best results, but it’s still fun," Taillon was telling media members at his locker after the game. "It’s your best against their best and you kind of know early on if you make too many mistakes you’re out of the game. Today, for instance, it didn’t matter how many we gave up. He was gonna roll.”
Greinke did roll — to the tune of seven innings pitched, two hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.
"It was old-school Atlanta Braves pitching today," Hurdle said. "I mean, he was running them over the black stripe. Fastball was painted. The changeup had bottom, and the cutter occasionally just to let left-handers know he was going in. [He] changed speeds very well."
Zack Greinke, Painted 90mph Fastball (called strike) and 87mph Changeup (swinging K), Stop GIF.
The artistry of Zack Greinke. ????️?️ pic.twitter.com/japU2DATae
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 25, 2019
Taillon's line for comparison: five innings, six hits, five earned runs, five strikeouts, one hit batter. It wasn't his best stuff to be certain, but it wasn't all a loss for him, either.
"I thought I made a lot of really good pitches today, and the ones I didn’t, they let me know they weren’t good pitches," he said.
And hey, maybe the Diamondbacks are just... good. They did everything well throughout this series, and Taillon was quick to praise the work they put forward.
"They might not have the huge names that you’re used to seeing in some really good lineups, but top-to-bottom, they’re a really competitive team," he said. "Probably more impressive than anything else they did was get guys in from third with less than two. Sac fly, two rollovers to second, bringing guys in. That’s good baseball.”
That is good baseball — and the Pirates could stand to do some of it themselves, beginning tomorrow in Los Angeles when they kick off their three-game series against the Dodgers.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GOOD
At one point in the seventh inning, I sent a group text to our staff asking if I could just delete "The Good" in this game report. I was kidding — kinda. I was genuinely struggling to take away any positives here... and then JB Shuck did this:
JB Shuck wasn't letting this one leave the park — even if it meant sacrificing his body. #dkps #pirates pic.twitter.com/tg3fLbFY5Q
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPghSports) April 25, 2019
That's just a helluva catch — the effort, the disregard for his wellbeing, the catch itself, hanging onto the ball through impact — it had it all.
"Shuck, it's one of the ways he keeps finding his way back to the big leagues periodically, man," Hurdle said. "He goes out and he plays hard."
Hats off to the Pirates' bullpen, too. Francisco Liriano got some help from Shuck to keep their lines spotless, but goose eggs are goose eggs, and the combo of Liriano, Kyle Crick and Keone Kela put up four clean innings of work. Notably, Crick brought some filth to the table in the eighth, offering up a strong curveball to complement some hot-hot heat.
It was the best he looked all year, and it will likely help him build some confidence moving forward, only, you know:
"It's a good step back," Hurdle was telling me of the bullpen's performance. "All three of them did very well."
One more bit of good: Cole Tucker posted a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 from his leadoff spot, and he played great defensively, too. He fielded cleanly, threw cleanly and even flashed some strong baseball IQ throughout. He turned a double-play late by collecting a grounder, tagging second himself and making the throw to first, and he also gunned down a would-be run at home in a fielder's choice. The team didn't expect him to be playing so soon, but now that he's here, he looks like he belongs.
THE BAD
The hitting was bad. The starting pitching was bad. But if we're going to dig into the real bad, we gotta turn to Gregory Polanco in right field for this — no, for these:
Effort aside on tracking the ball, let's talk about those throws. The hits resulted in back-to-back triples in the top of the fifth, and yes, in his defense, Polanco is returning from offseason shoulder surgery. He's returning sooner than many expected at that.
But if he can't make the throws, should he be starting? Hurdle, at least, gave him a pass:
Still, that's not what you're looking for from your right fielder, and it was a harsh reminder of the work he still needs to put in to regain his past form.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Diamondbacks may not boast a star-studded lineup on first glance, but they sure have the Pirates' attention. Nobody in the Pirates' locker room is taking that squad lightly, as Taillon clearly stated above. Hurdle was similarly impressed.
"It's April. They're in a good place," he said. "They're playing good baseball right now. Sometimes it's 'when' you play people as well. I said that all along: [It's] not who you play but when you play them. You tip your hat to them."
With the sweep, they climbed all the way up to 15-11, just a half-game behind the Dodgers in the NL West.
THE DATA
• Besides the back-to-back sweeps, that's 10 straight wins for the Diamondbacks at PNC Park — a franchise record for them.
• Time of game: 2 hours, 41 minutes
• After winning five in a row, the Pirates have now lost five straight. Many projected this team to hover around .500 all year, and at 12-11 after today, all seems to be chugging along according to plan.
• Total score of the series: 30-7. Yikes.
• The Pirates have lost six straight games at Dodger Stadium.
• Martin was off to a fun start as a rookie, but he's in a 1-for-17 rut.
• The announced attendance: 9,365.
THE INJURIES
• Starling Marte, center fielder, is on the 10-day IL with an abdominal wall contusion/bruised right quad. He has resumed light baseball activities and the PIrates he can activated soon after he becomes eligible April 29.
• Erik Gonzalez, shortstop, is on the 60-day IL with a fractured right clavicle and had it repaired surgically today by Dr. Greg Altman at Allegheny General Hospital. He will not be able to begin baseball activities until at least mid-July.
• Corey Dickerson, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a strained right shoulder. He's throwing and hitting but isn't expected back until early May.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a broken right hand. He's on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Indianapolis and 2-for-15 with four strikeouts in four games.
• Kevin Newman, infielder, is on the 10-day IL with a lacerated right ring finger. He is on a rehab assignment with Indianapolis and is 3-for-7 with a walk and a strikeout in two games.
• Jacob Stallings, catcher, is on the 10-day IL with a cervical neck strain and has resumed light baseball activity.
• Jose Osuna, infielder/outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with neck discomfort. He is on a rehab assignment with high-Class A Bradenton and is 1-for-8 with one strikeout in two games.
• Bryan Reynolds, outfielder, has left quadriceps muscle discomfort and missed the last two games.
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates won't return to PNC Park until May 3, as they begin a road trip that will see them face off against the Dodgers and the Rangers. The first leg of that comes tomorrow, as the team takes on the Dodgers at 10:10 p.m. ET. John Perrotto will be on the scene for the entirety of the series.
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.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Pirates vs. Diamondbacks, PNC Park, April 25, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS