LOS ANGELES -- In conversing with Rays’ people in spring training, a recurring theme kept coming up when they talked about Chris Archer: He had an increasingly difficult time getting hitters out once he got to two strikes during his final three seasons in Tampa Bay.
Archer seemed to be over those troubles through his four starts this year in his first full season with the Pirates. Hitters were just 6-for-44 (.136) with five walks against him with two strikes.
However, the inability to put hitters away did Archer in Friday night as the Pirates lost to the Dodgers 6-2 at Dodger Stadium in the opener of a three-game series and five-game road trip.
Archer got to two strikes against 12 of the 20 batters he faced. However, the Dodgers were 5-for-11 with a walk in those plate appearances, sending the Pirates to their sixth straight loss and dropping them to .500 at 12-12.
Archer lasted just four innings and was tagged for six runs and six hits in what was easily his worst outing of the season.
“I don’t beat myself up too much over it,” Archer said of his two-strike troubles. “It definitely is frustrating. I go pitch-to-pitch, moment-to-moment, batter-to-batter. It’s not something that lingers. Tonight wasn’t my night. That was clear.”
The only way it would have been his night was if commissioner Rob Manfred suddenly mandated that two strikes were enough for a strikeout in his ever-increasing attempt to speed the pace of play. Alas, a pitcher still needs three strikes for a punchout.
From Clint Hurdle’s perspective, Archer’s struggles had to do with poor location of his pitches.
“I’m of the opinion if he gets the ball wherever he wants to get it, he’ll get outs,” Hurdle said. “They may have fouled off a pitch here or there but, overall, it was the inability to put people away with two strikes.”
At no time was Archer’s struggle in that department more evident than when he faced catcher Austin Barnes.
Barnes hit a two-out solo home run into the left-field pavilion on a full-count pitch with two outs in the second inning to increase the Dodgers’ lead to 3-1. Cody Bellinger lined a two-run homer into the right-field seats in the first.
In the fourth, Barnes lined a two-run double to center field on a 2-2 pitch that capped a three-run inning to make it 6-2.
Both of Barnes’ hit came off sliders. As our Jason Rollison pointed out prior to the game, Archer entered the night with the highest swing-and-miss rate (20.9 percent) on sliders of any major-league starting pitcher this season.
However, Archer got just four swinging strikes on 30 sliders against the Dodgers.
Archer admitted he was stubborn in continuing to throw the pitch on a night when it wasn’t effective. Yet he made no apologies for doing so.
“I have the utmost trust in that pitch,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I give up six homers in one game on that pitch, I’m still going to go to it. The track record is there. Tonight was one of those nights where it wasn’t good.”
Archer has been around long enough not to fear that command of the pitch may have abandoned him. He will fine-tune it in a couple of bullpen sessions before making his next outing Friday against the Athletics at PNC Park.
“There’s nothing to be overly concerned about,” Archer said. “Just make sure it’s sharp and crisp going into my next start.”
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GOOD
Josh Bell continues to be a bright spot for a moribund offense.
Bell led off the fourth inning by lining a 2-0 two-seam fastball 406 feet over the center-field fence off Hyun-Jin Ryu.
It was Bell’s sixth home run of the season in his 24th game. Last year, he went deep just 12 times in 148 games after hitting 26 homers as a rookie in 2017.
The switch-hitter homered for the 12th time from the right side in his career. The other 36 have been as a left-handed hitter.
“I think the right-handed swing has been showing up better than at any time since he’s been here,” Hurdle said.
Bell is hitting .273 (6-for-22) with two homers off left-handed pitchers this season and .286 (18-for-63 with four homers against righties.
THE BAD
Missed opportunities continue to be the theme for the offense.
The Pirates had just three at-bats with runners in scoring position, all in the first two innings against Ryu, and came up with zero hits.
Adam Frazier and Melky Cabrera opened the game with singles to put runners on the corners with none out. Gregory Polanco then hit in a 3-6-3 double play. Though a run scored, it effectively killed the rally.
"Gregory hit it to the dead pull corner," Hurdle said. "With two runners on, you're looking for something to hit in the middle of the field."
The Pirates had runners on second and third with one out in the second following a single by Francisco Cervelli and Bryan Reynolds' double. However, Cole Tucker had the first of his three strikeouts, going down swinging on a cutter, and Archer bounced out to third to end the threat.
The Pirates are hitting just .210 with runners in scoring position.
THE OTHER SIDE
Ryu allowed two runs and scattered eight hits in seven innings, striking out 10 and walking none. It was the left-hander’s first double-digit strikeout game since 2014.
“Like I always say, it's pretty comfortable pitching at home, especially knowing how my teammates will help me in terms of putting up runs early,” Ryu said through an interpreter. “That has led to successful results.”
Ryu got into a groove after running into trouble early. Seven of the 10 strikeouts came in his last four innings.
“He pitched us basically as we anticipated because he had good stuff, he mixed his pitches well,” Hurdle said. “He kept the ball away, he kept the ball down, the cutter played in tight. We had early opportunities; we weren't able to get traction with and that hurt us.”
THE DATA
• Bell has hit three home runs in his last six games.
• Reynolds has a hit in all five games since being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis last Saturday. He is batting .438 (7-for-16).
• Frazier is hitting .414 (12-for-29) against the Dodgers in his career.
• The Dodgers set the major-league record by hitting a home run in their 33rd consecutive home game. The 1999 Rockies had held the record.
• Bellinger has 89 total bases, the most in major-league history by a player before May 1.
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 hope he can activated soon after he becomes eligible Monday.
• Erik Gonzalez, shortstop, is on the 60-day IL with a fractured right clavicle and had it repaired surgically Thursday. He will not return until at least mid-July.
• Corey Dickerson, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a strained right shoulder. He joined Triple-A Indianapolis today and will play his first game Sunday. He is tentatively scheduled to be activated May 3.
• Nick Burdi, relief pitcher, is on the 10-day IL with right elbow/biceps pain. He will get a second opinion Monday from Rangers team orthopedist Keith Meister in Arlington, Texas.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a broken right hand. He's on a rehab assignment with Indianapolis and is 3-for-17 with four strikeouts in five 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 4-for-12 with a double, a walk and two strikeouts in three 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 2-for-12 with two strikeouts in three games.
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates and Dodgers play the middle game of the three-game series Saturday at 9:10 p.m. ET. Joe Musgrove (1-1, 1.59) will face three-time Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 2.77). I 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.
