KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Pirates suffered their worst road shutout loss in 25 years, 11-0, at the hands of the Royals Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.
The last time the Pirates lost by at least that many on the road was July 1, 1995, falling to the Astros, 11-0.
And it should go without saying that the Pirates’ 30th loss, the one that officially clinches that they will not having a winning record in the 60-game 2020 season, was their most lopsided.
“We haven't really had many games like this,” catcher JR Murphy said after the game. “We haven't had blowout games. And the games [in which] we did get behind early, we’ve been able to [score] some runs late. We've been doing a good job of that.”
While Murphy is right that the Pirates have at least stayed in most games or at least salvaged a little offense at the end, all of the ingredients that have resulted in them having a league worst 14-30 record were on display Sunday. Botched plays with the field. Cross-ups and miscommunication between the catcher and pitcher. An anemic offense that barely created any opportunities and then failed to capitalize on the few that were presented. A short, ineffective outing from the starting pitcher.
And once again, it’s worth repeating this blowout was against the Royals, another team that, up until very recently, was in the mix for the worst record in baseball.
After losing the first two games of the series on Friday and Saturday, the Pirates picked up where they left off in the first, playing arguably their worst inning of baseball of the season.
Offensively, Adam Frazier and Kevin Newman lifted weak fly outs, followed by Colin Moran looking at strike three.
Royals starter Brad Keller needed just 10 pitches to get through that first frame, setting the pace for his five-hit, complete game shutout.
In the process, the Pirates' already league-worst on-base percentage (.284) and slugging percentage (.349) dropped even lower.
“He was in the zone the whole day, really attacking, and he mixed his pitches well,” Murphy said. “He kept us off balance. He didn’t punch a lot of guys out, which means we're putting it in play. He was just making good pitches.”
Their half in the field was much worse. The Royals got their first run when third baseman JT Riddle couldn’t handle a bouncing ball to his left:
That was ruled a single for Maikel Franco, who was credited with an RBI for what looked like an inning-ending double play.
“That’s an error,” Shelton said, in a rare instance of him signaling out a player or an official scorer. “That’s an error all day long. I don’t know why they ruled it a hit. If that’s the case, we’ll take the official scorer home with us. Because that’s atrocious on that ball. I guarantee if you ask JT Riddle, he’s going to tell you, he should have made that play.”
Two batters later, the defense had another chance at the double play, but failed to execute. Josh Bell had a clear force at home plate, but didn’t scoop Alex Gordon’s slow roller up the line, letting a run score and putting two runners in scoring position.
Having those runners in scoring position turned out to matter during the next at-bat, when Chad Kuhl and Murphy got crossed up. Murphy called a breaking pitch. Kuhl thought it was a fastball, and his toss hit home plate umpire Jeremie Rehak’s mask.
The ball ricocheted over to the Royals’ dugout, and despite Kuhl trying to point it out, Murphy couldn’t see it, allowing both runners to score.
“Everybody was yelling,” Shelton said. “When there are wild pitches and the ball hits the catcher, he’s got a general idea on the direction of where that ball goes. When you get crossed up, you don’t get anything on it and it hits the umpire, it’s one of those plays that’s really strange, of like where it went. It’s a freak play. We were yelling at him. I think he got a little disoriented on where the play was and didn’t find the ball.”
All this happened in a 32 pitch first inning for Kuhl. He didn’t last much longer, being pulled after allowing nine runs and walking six over 2 ⅓ innings. He threw 70 pitches, 39 of which were balls.
Kuhl, who has had cuticle and blister issues with his right index finger pop up occasionally since the beginning of August, said that it flared up again Sunday, and it affected his fastball command.
“As soon as we kind of figured out that I really couldn't throw a fastball, we just kind of showed it just for hoping it would end up in a good location, Kuhl said. “We went to all breaking ball stuff just to try to get some quick outs, but I just didn't have it today."
Murphy saw those struggles, but they couldn’t find a solution.
“Chad was a little scattered today,” Murphy said. “When a guy is like that, you’ve got to find what's working on that day. Some days it might be the slider, some days might be the curveball. Whatever it is, it's definitely my job to figure out a way to get him back in the zone. Today, we had a difficult time.”
Failing to find a solution has been another recurring theme for the 2020 Pirates.
"We talk about teaching points a lot," Shelton said before the game on how the team is responding to losing. "A major part of that is having conversations with players about things that went well and things that didn’t go well. And getting feedback on what they saw or how they reacted to it. Then using those conversations to make sure that we’re trying to eliminate making that mistake again."
They'll have plenty to talk about after Sunday.
• Nick Tropeano come in relief of Kuhl, striking out six over 2 2/3 innings. While he was charged with only one run, he allowed all three of the runners he inherited from Kuhl to score.
Dovydas Neverauskas worked around a solo shot to give two innings of relief. Richard Rodriguez pitched 2/3 of an inning, and Austin Davis cleaned up the eighth inning.
• The reason why Davis had to pitch in the eighth is because after the inning had apparently ended, Royals manager Mike Matheny challenged that Murphy interfered on the final out of the frame. He would end up winning the challenge, and rather than send Rodriguez back out there, Shelton called on Davis instead.
Again, the Royals were up 11 and were three outs away from winning at the time.
"No. Thats his decision," Shelton responded when asked if he took issue with the challenge.
• Cole Tucker moved into the infield for the first time this season, playing three innings at second base to get Adam Frazier off his feet. He did not make a play on a ball.
• Ke’Bryan Hayes was given the day off Sunday ahead of Monday’s doubleheader against the Reds.
• Mitch Keller will start the second game of Monday's doubleheader.
Cody Ponce, who is with the team on the road as a member of the taxi squad, will pitch the first While the Pirates will be allowed to carry a 29th player for the second game, that means they will need to make at least one transaction pregame to open up a roster spot for Ponce.
Keller last appeared in a game on Aug. 1, exiting in the third inning with a left oblique injury that has sidelined him for most of the season. He has been limited to just 7 ⅔ innings this season.
He won’t be fully stretched out, with Shelton suggesting that he will be close to where Joe Musgrove was in his first start back after a lengthy injured list stay. Musgrove threw 46 pitches over three innings in his first start off the IL back on Sept. 2.
“It’s good to get him back,” Shelton said. “We need to get him innings. It’s important to get him innings through the rest of the year, with the time he’s missed going into 2021. Getting him back on the mound is important to us.”
• For the curious, here are the other 13 times since 1901 where the Pirates were shutout and lost by at least 11 on the road.
• Factoid of the night: Kuhl and Tropeano each walked home a run with the bases loaded. That gives the Pirates 10 walked in runs this season, the most in the majors.