Continued struggles in the field were on display once again at PNC Park, playing a major role in the Pirate 4-2 loss to the Reds on Friday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader.
Entering their weekend four game series against Cincinnati, the Pirates had committed multiple errors in each of their last five contests. The good news was the multiple-error streak came to an end. The bad news was the club did commit one error and it was a costly one.
With a runner on first base and two outs, a sharply hit ball from Curt Casali was too much for Josh Bell to handle, allowing the base runner to move into scoring position and the top of the second inning to continue. Jose Garcia made the Pirates pay in the very next at-bat, with a RBI single that gave the Reds a lead that they’d never surrender.
Bell didn’t have the only costly mistake in the field. Just an inning later Cole Tucker took too long to judge a bloop fly ball to center, resulting in it falling to the grass and bringing home Nick Castellanos for the Reds third run of the day. That run also served as the winning run.
While frustrating for some, starting pitcher Steven Brault, who fell to 0-2 on the season, provided a reminder after the game that nobody is perfect.
"It's not mistakes behind me that I care about,” Brault said. “If I ever stop walking people or throwing pitches down the middle every now and then, then I'll say something but mistakes, everybody makes mistakes. I don't care about that. It's frustrating to get the weak contact that just happens to go to the right spot over and over and over again. That's more frustrating. So I would never blame any of these guys for anything. Stuff happens. Everybody makes mistakes."
The fielding miscues forced Brault to battle through a few difficult innings. His fatigue finally set in when Castellanos tagged him for a solo homer in the top of the fifth, for the Reds fourth and final run.
"I just threw it right down the middle,” Brault said. “The idea was to get low and in, get a rollover ground ball. Kind of wrap around the ball sometimes. But he did a good job of staying behind it and I put it over the middle and he hit it. It happens. It's the big leagues. You make mistakes, sometimes people take advantage."
Castellanos had a big day for the Reds, going 2-for-4 at the plate, with the solo homer, a RBI and two runs scored.
The top performance of the game however, belonged to Reds’ starting pitcher Luis Castillo who earned his first win of the season after allowing just two runs on eight hits and a pair of walks, striking out eight batters in six innings of work.
"He's obviously a really good pitcher for a reason,” Tucker said of Castillo after the game. “The difference between his fastball and changeup is perfect for what he's trying to do.”
“.... We just didn't piece together what we needed to. We had guys on, we just didn't come through. Hopefully in the second game we will.”
Tucker was not wrong when he said the Pirates had opportunities. Twice in the first four innings of the game the Pirates opened the frame with two men on base. They came up empty on both occasions. The club left eight men on total throughout the seven inning contest.
Gregory Polanco and Colin Moran both had a solid afternoon at the plate, each finishing with two hits and an RBI.