Neal Huntington admitted his culpability for the Pirates’ pitching problems on Sunday during his weekly radio show. He particularly lamented his inability to put together a solid middle-relief corps, saying he has not “done a good job at getting the right guys at the times from the right spots.”
That was never on greater display than Tuesday night when the Braves torched the Pirates’ bullpen for 10 runs over the last four innings to rally for a 12-5 victory at PNC Park. The Pirates (28-31) lost for the ninth time in their past 12 games.
Though Steven Brault needed 93 pitches just to get through four innings, the left-hander turned a 5-2 lead over to the bullpen. And Clint Hurdle felt good about the Pirates’ chances at that point.
“I actually thought we were in a really good place to move on from there,” Hurdle said. “We tried to get a fresh look, get the game in a better rhythm.”
Instead, the Braves got into a rhythm more akin to a basketball team by going on a 10-0 run to end the game. They also used the 3-ball – in this case, two three-run home runs – as effectively as the Golden State Warriors.
More than anything, the Braves’ explosion highlighted how bad the bullpen has become. Pirates relievers now have a 5.25 ERA this season.
Clay Holmes followed Brault and allowed one unearned run – the Pirates made three errors in the game – in one-plus inning. Embattled Richard Rodriguez followed with one scoreless inning, though he did allow one of the two runners he inherited from Holmes to score.
Hurdle then called in Crick, who has been as reliable as any Pirates reliever this season, to protect a 5-3 lead in the seventh. Crick had pitched 13 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings coming into the game and been scored on in only one of his 21 appearances all season.
However, Josh Donaldson walked with one out and Nick Markakis reached when Bryan Reynolds dropped his line drive to left field for an error. Rookie sensation Austin Riley followed by hitting a three-run opposite-field home run to right that put the Braves ahead 6-5.
Crick appeared to throw a good slider, but Riley hit it over the Clemente Wall for his ninth home run in just 18 career games.
“I don’t know how he hit that pitch as hard as he did,” Crick said. “It was almost like he knew it was coming.”
Added Hurdle: "You have to be really strong to be a right-handed hitter and hit the ball where he did."
When I asked Crick how frustrating it was to allow three runs on a seemingly good pitch, he could only give a wistful smile.
“Baseball’s a really funny game,” he said. “It doesn’t always work out the way it should. I just go out and try to execute my pitches. Whatever happens, happens. On that particular 0-1 slider, I think I executed the pitch. Just a better piece of hitting."
Everything kept working out for the Braves.
Donaldson belted a three-run home run off Geoff Hartlieb in the eighth to make it 9-5 and Freddie Freeman capped a three-run ninth with a two-run shot off Rookie Davis. Earlier in his at-bat, Freeman hit a foul ball down the right-field line that went into the Allegheny River on the fly.
Here is Donaldson's shot that was measured at 439 feet.
The Pirates have insisted since trading for Chris Archer on July 31, that they are trying to win now.
Granted, they are missing relievers Keone Kela and Nick Burdi, who are on the injured list. Yet this is not the type of bullpen that will allow a team to be a contender.
The easy excuse for not bringing in any help is that teams aren’t ready to trade this early this season. That is not necessarily true, though, as the Mariners and Royals have already admitted they have run up the white flag on this season and have told teams most of their veterans are available.
Expect more teams to follow suit in the coming days as plenty of them are in rebuilding mode.
Huntington has at least admitted the problem. Now, it’s time for him to fix it before the season slips away.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GOOD
Melky Cabrera batted cleanup as Josh Bell got his first day off this season and filled the void quite well.
Cabrera went 2 for 4 with a home run, a walk and three RBIs. His two-run homer in the first inning put the Pirates ahead 2-1 and his RBI single in the second extended the advantage to 5-1.
The Pirates, though, never scored again.
Cabrera continues to be a great value signing for the Pirates. His salary is just $1.15 million as he agreed to a minor-league contract the day before spring training began, but he is hitting .335/.376/.467 with four home runs and 22 RBIs in 55 games.
“Melky has a lot of experience,” Hurdle said of the 15-year veteran. “He watches a lot of video. He hunts pitches. If you look tonight, there are three times he fired first pitch, looking for pitches, he goes up and hunts and sometimes they throw what he's hunting. He doesn't miss it very often."
THE BAD
Brault is a very likable guy with a great personality. Nevertheless, he can be infuriating.
Brault was very fortunate to allow just two runs (one earned) in his four-inning stint. He allowed five hits, walked three and hit a batter. The left-hander also averaged a whopping 7.8 pitches per out.
“I can try to sum it up with pitch efficiency,” Hurdle said of Brault’s outing. “He has some inconsistency with his arm slot that led to inconsistency throwing strikes.”
Brault talked about his performance:
THE OTHER SIDE
In addition to his nine homers, Riley is batting .324/.368/.372 with 25 RBIs.
Riley was the National League Rookie of the Month for May, even though he did not make his major-league debut until May 15. The 22-year-old third baseman/outfielder hit .356 with seven home runs, 20 RBIs and 1.143 OPS in 15 games.
Like most young players, Riley is hesitant to accept much credit. Instead, he was more interested Tuesday night in talking about how the Braves (33-27) rallied for the win.
"It just shows the drive of the team," Riley said. "You never know what's going to happen. It shows a lot about this team."
THE DATA
• The Pirates had gone eight consecutive games without committing an error until Elias Diaz's errant throw in the first inning in an attempt to catch Ronald Acuna Jr. stealing third base led to the game's first run. In addition to Reynolds’dropping a liner, Kevin Newman booted Riley's grounder to third in the sixth inning.
• Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 12 games by hitting a single in his last at-bat in the eighth inning.
• Brault has allowed two runs or fewer in three of his four starts, though that is deceptive as he has pitched a combined 17 innings in those games.
• Cabrera's two hits came off starter Max Fried, a left-hander. Cabrera, a switch-hitter, is batting .367 (18 for 49) against lefties this season.
• Bell had hit cleanup in each the first 58 game. The last Pirates player to have a longer streak to begin a season was Bobby Bonilla, who hit fourth in 59 games in 1991.
THE INJURIES
• Corey Dickerson, left fielder, is on the 60-day IL with a right posterior shoulder strain and is on a rehab assignment with Class AAA Indianapolis.
• Francisco Cervelli, catcher, is on the seven-day concussion IL.
• Jung Ho Kang, third baseman, is on the 10-day IL with a left side strain and is on a rehab assignment with Indianapolis.
• Jameson Taillon, right-hander, is on the 60-day IL with a right elbow flexor tendon strain.
• Trevor Williams, right-hander, is on the 10-day IL with a right side strain.
• Keone Kela, right-hander, is on the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation and has had his rehab assignment with Indianapolis stopped.
• Chris Stratton, right-hander, is on the 10-day IL with right side discomfort.
• Erik Gonzalez, shortstop, is on the 60-day IL with a left clavicle fracture.
• Nick Burdi, relief pitcher, is on the 60-day IL with right elbow/biceps pain caused by a nerve problem and is rehabbing at the Pirates' spring training facility in Bradenton, Fla.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder, is on the 60-day IL with a right finger fracture, left calf strain and recurring calf tightness, and his rehabilitation assignment with Indianapolis has been stopped.
THE SCHEDULE
The middle game of the three-game series is at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday with Joe Musgrove (3-6, 4.57) facing Kevin Gausman (2-4, 5.56). Musgrove has lost his past two starts, giving up 11 runs in 11 innings. Gausman is 1-2 with a 6.56 ERA in his last five starts. Matt Sunday and I will be on the scene.
THE COVERAGE
All 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. Braves, PNC Park, June 4, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
