Jordan Lyles began perfectly, striking out the first two batters he faced in the Pirates' 11-3 loss to the Cubs Thursday at PNC Park.
After fanning the first two though?
Dinger. Walk. Double. Another dinger. Nearly hit batter. A third dinger. Another nearly hit batter, this time causing a scene.
In all, Lyles allowed 10 hits, three of which sailed into the stands, and struck out seven in just four innings of work. Clay Holmes, whom we'll get to in just a bit, came in and performed even more poorly.
Which leads us directly into my first thought coming out of this one...
1. Please, do something
Seriously, guys, stop laughing. I know. I know. The Pirates aren't going to pay for quality pitching. They probably won't aggressively pursue a trade either. Last year they did, trading Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow and Shane Baz to the Rays for Chris Archer, and that one hasn't aged too well. Nobody within the club has formally said it will discourage the team from trying again, of course, but for an organization that's already all about pinching pennies, you just know they love holding onto that little bit of ammo.
"Oh, yeah, well the last time we tried that, you see..."
But nobody knows what's up with Jameson Taillon and his strained right elbow flexor tendon. He was scheduled to play catch before Thursday's game, but Clint Hurdle wasn't sure if that actually happened.
"Don't know if that happened," Hurdle was telling me after the game. "I was just trying to catch up with him. The trainers made me aware that he had a statement yesterday about his next steps, so I hope to catch up with him tomorrow and find out what those next steps are. I know playing catch now is somewhere in the near future."
Not encouraging. Add that to Archer's rocky, more-bad-than-good year and Lyles' current, ongoing slump, and you're left with three reliable starters. One is Steven Brault.
But if the Pirates aren't going to bolster their starting rotation, can they at least do something about...
2. That bullpen
Again with the laughing?
Look, I just praised the bullpen's improvements in my last edition of Five Thoughts. I'm not going to act like all that's suddenly invalid. They have been much better, particularly Richard Rodriguez, who now hasn't allowed a run in 14.1 consecutive innings of work.
But Dovydas Neverauskas still has a stall inside that locker room. Holmes was a disaster Thursday, allowing five hits in two innings, good for four earned runs while striking out just one and walking another.
"The command got away from him," Hurdle was saying after the game of Holmes' performance.
Ya think?
On the positive side, Keone Kela seems to be nearing a return from his shoulder injury. He'll throw a sim game Saturday. And credit where it's due: Chris Stratton was phenomenal in three innings of relief, striking out five and allowing zero hits while facing the minimum of nine batters. But this, despite the improvements, remains a weakness for the team. If you gave me a magic wand to wave and improve one position for this crew, I'm adding a quality arm and not thinking twice. With the offense's sudden resurgence and newfound identity, it's the only place to go.
3. Newman is a new man
I can't say enough good stuff about Kevin Newman right now. He's slashing .344/.388/.552 with four home runs and 15 RBIs over the past 28 days. His 19-game hitting streak from June 10 to June 29 was the longest by a Pirates rookie since 1900. But I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about this:
That's Newman after the game, calmly addressing two early bad spots and breaking down exactly what happened. The game started a little rocky for him defensively, but he quickly regrouped and recovered, stringing together a solid outing afterward. That's awfully professional for a 25-year-old player getting his first real taste of regular big-league action.
Couple that with his reliable batting, and the Pirates are onto something with Mr. Newman, a player who some felt might never develop into a regular contributor on a major league roster. The turnaround is dramatic, and it's been consistent, too. That's crucial.
Side note: When I approached Newman to see if I could get a moment of his time, he immediately asked, "Am I going to be on camera?" He didn't not want to be on camera. It wasn't that. He just wanted to make sure his hair and outfit looked OK — made me check to see if his collar looked clean and tidy.
Again, professional.
4. Did I fall for it too?
I already wrote quite a bit on Joe Maddon in my Game Report, so I'm not going to dive too much deeper here. But the more I think on it, the more I wonder: Did I get trolled? Did a lot of angry fans and commenters right here on this site get trolled?
Maddon's history suggests he knows exactly what he's doing. It's the fourth of July, and PNC Park is rockin' with plenty of Cubs fans. Lyles goes up and in once. Then again. Then he clips Baez's bat handle.
It was too convenient an opportunity for Maddon to have some fun. He went back to his office, downed a bottle of wine, soaked in the air conditioning and waited for everyone to talk about him. And we did.
Maybe he played that exactly like he wanted and we're the fools...
Or maybe not. Just a thought.
Regardless of his ultimate intent there, the Pirates need to just...
5. Let it go
I genuinely don't think anybody on that Pirates team is bothered by Maddon's actions. At all. Lyles didn't seem to care. Hurdle didn't seem to care. I mean, this was his reaction in the heat of the moment:
Newman didn't seem to care, either. Nobody even fully understood what was happening. So there's no reason to think this will linger, but it really can't if the team wants to continue making this push. They're heading straight into a three-game homestand against the Brewers beginning Friday then another series against the Cubs in Chicago following the All-Star break. At 42-44, they're very much alive in both the NL Central (three games away from the first-place Brewers) and the NL Wild Card race (two-and-a-half games out of the second spot).
But things will only stay that way if they can pack away this ugly defeat and all that came with it and move on. The Pirates have done just that several times already this season. It's essentially defined who they are.
Now, they need to do it again.
