With all that has happened within the Pirates' world the past couple days, Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Mariners barely registered as a blip on the radar.
Up until a couple days ago, the idea of playing in front of a nearly empty PNC Park with an injury-plagued lineup on Roberto Clemente Day would have been a story line. It was not one on Wednesday due to the aftershocks of the Felipe Vazquez arrest and the new developments in the case that morning.
It is a dark cloud that will hang over this team through the rest of the season. Wise words are welcome at a time like this, and Trevor Williams may have inadvertently said them on Sunday. At the time, the Pirates had finished one of the worst pitched series in their franchise's history, with Williams starting the final game, a 16-6 loss to the Cubs. In his post-game interview, he was asked how the pitchers will regroup. He answered:
"It's hard to find positives in a three-game series like this," Williams said then. "However, we have to search for those and we have to glorify those."
Finding positives took on a whole new meaning these last 48 hours, and some eye bleach could be used by all. There was a positive to be glorified Wednesday, and fittingly, it involved Williams.
Last week, the Pirates announced Williams as their nominee for the Roberto Clemente award, recognizing his work with Project 34, a charity he co-founded that provides aid to people with spinal cord injuries.
On Wednesday, he was presented the award by Vera and Lorna Clemente.
"It's such an honor just to be recognized with the award that shares the name Roberto Clemente," Williams was telling me at his locker. "How much he means to baseball, to Puerto Rico, to the Latin America community, to Pittsburgh. It's a tremendous honor. I think if you were to ask every nominee, they would say, 'I am extremely unworthy of this.'
"I think we all strive to be a fraction of the man that Roberto was. Then you're probably doing something good with your life."
Clint Hurdle's response on Williams being the nominee: "Right man, right spot."
"He's a good teammate. He's a good pitcher. He's a good father, he's a good husband. He's a good man in the community, and the foundation that he supports, Project 34, is doing wonderful things," Hurdle said. "I'm very proud of him."
To tack on to Hurdle's "right man, right spot" sentiment, I would like to add "right time." There will be more reports and articles about one individual's sickening actions to come. Even if this was just for a day, there was some good. There was still far more bad than good, but there was at least something to latch onto.
As I wrapped up the interview, I asked Williams, can this day be a positive that can be glorified?
He did not answer it directly. Instead, he said something better.
"We've been dealt really everything this year," Williams said. "Really, everything. I think the guys in this clubhouse know we're good, the guys in this clubhouse know that there are good men in this clubhouse. There's a lot to look forward to in the coming years.
"This is the storm. This is the bottom. And I think the guys in here believe that we can get out of it."
• There is a national vote for the Clemente Award winner going on now. You can vote here. I know the instinct is just to scroll down to Williams and pick him, but read through some of the nominees. Recognize some good work done by some good men.
More info on Project 34 can be found here.
• OK, onto the game.
Starter Dario Agrazal worked efficiently, striking out a career high six batters on 74 pitches over five innings, but was also tagged for four runs.
Two of them came on back-to-back pitches. First to Kyle Lewis...
...and then to Tom Murphy.
"Two mislocated fastballs," Hurdle said.
• The opener strategy worked for the Mariners. Justin Dunn walked three and allowed a base hit in two innings of work, but he posted two zeros. Tommy Milone took it from there, facing just one over the minimum in five shutout frames.
"He changed speeds. He got us out the same way all day," Hurdle said of Milone.
• The Pirates rallied in the ninth, opening with bloop singles by Colin Moran and Jose Osuna to bring the tying run to the plate. Adam Frazier gave a ball a ride to the wall, but the center fielder Moore caught it on the run. Elias Diaz followed with a 108.5 mph line drive, but Moore again was able to track it down.
Kevin Kramer flew to left for the third out.
• Chris Stratton, Geoff Hartlieb, Yacksel Rios, Yefry Ramirez and Williams Jerez combined for four scoreless innings. Not exactly the shark tank, but that will do.
• The Pirates have not homered in their last five games. They have allowed 19 in that span.
• Cole Tucker's bat still had some off the bench magic, dropping in a pinch-hit bloop that turned into a triple after the right fielder Lewis dove and missed. That turned out to be the Pirates offense for the night, with him coming home on a Kevin Newman run-scoring ground out.
He has slashed .500/.577/.864 in 26 PAs as a substitute this season. Of course it is a small sample size, but six of his 15 extra-base hits came in games he did not start.
• The Pirates announced RHP James Marvel as their minor league pitcher of the year and 1B Mason Martin as their minor league player of the year Wednesday.
Marvel went a combined 16-5 with a 2.94 ERA (162.1 IP/ 53 ER) and 136 strikeouts in 28 starts between AA Altoona and AAA Indianapolis this season.
Martin hit 35 home runs and 32 doubles in A-ball between Greensboro and Bradenton this season, He was also named Pittsburgh's minor league player of the year by Baseball America.
• Newman extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
• Reynolds (and Newman) Watch: Bryan Reynolds went 0 for 3 with a walk and his batting average dropped to .320. Kevin Newman went 1 for 4 with an RBI. His average fell to .316.
An updated National League leaderboard:
Anthony Rendon .330
Christian Yelich .329
Ketel Marte .329
Reynolds .320
Jeff McNeil .318
Charlie Blackmon .318
Newman .316
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE INJURIES
• Chris Archer (shoulder, out for season)
• Gregory Polanco (shoulder, out for season)
• Josh Bell (groin, likely done for year)
• Lonnie Chisenhall (60-day IL, hasn't made an out all year)
Here’s the most recent full report.
THE SCHEDULE
Joe Musgrove (10-12, 4.52) will start the series finale Thursday. Yusei Kikuchi (6-10, 5.46) will go for the Mariners, who have a chance to sweep a three game series, something they have not done this season. (To their credit, they have two four-game sweeps). Hunter Homistek has got you covered.
THE COVERAGE
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