Colin Moran provided the offense a much needed spark Thursday afternoon, but it was not enough to get the Pirates back into the win column, dropping their eighth straight in a 7-6 decision to the Cardinals at PNC Park.
There are two noteworthy points about those home runs, the first being they each came off of southpaws.
In the first, he put the Pirates ahead early with a three-run shot off Wade LeBlanc:
And in the fourth, he took Andrew Miller deep:
“Homers feel good no matter what but I’m working hard and trying to stay in there and drive the ball against them [left-handers],” Moran said. “I got a good couple pitches to hit, put the barrel on it.”
The other point is that it had been 124 plate appearances and 116 days since his last home run on April 18.
It has been a tough year for the usually durable Moran, who has been seriously bit by the injury bug this season. He missed all of July and the first chunk of August after being hit by a pitch and suffering a Pisiform bone fracture in left wrist. That was his second lengthy stay on the injured list this season -- missing nearly a month with a groin strain in May -- not to mention a couple other bruises along the way.
After getting everyday reps for the first time in the abbreviated 2020 season, this was supposed to be his first real chance over 162. A .285/.347/.448 slash line and 116 wRC+ show that he’s doing well with that opportunity, but he just isn’t staying on the field.
“It’s definitely frustrating when you go through it,” Moran said. “You try to look forward to whenever I was coming back, or since there’s still season available, trying to make the most of it. It stinks to miss the time I have, but I just try to not dwell on it too much. Just try to focus on moving forward and keep working.”
The results are finally starting to turn Moran’s way, who has now recorded multi-hit performances in consecutive starts. While the home runs were the obvious highlight Thursday, Derek Shelton liked his approach throughout the game.
“That’s probably as aggressive as we’ve seen him since the first two weeks of the season, which is a really good sign,” Shelton said.
Moran agreed.
“I was trying to be aggressive and let my eyes tell me whether to swing or not,” he said. “When your timing is off, sometimes you can get into a little bit of trying to see the ball and then swing instead of just trusting your eyes to tell you whether to swing or not.”
Keeping that timing while on the injured list is tough to do. You can taking batting practice off a velocity machine, but getting real at-bats are better. That’s why he tried to get back sooner than he probably should have earlier this year rather than properly heal.
“I think when I came back from the last injury I was trying to force it, instead of understanding that it may take a little bit,” Moran said.
Those healthy, consistent at-bats might not be too far behind.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The fourth inning sunk JT Brubaker Thursday, hanging a pair of curveballs right down the middle to Paul DeJong and Lars Nootbar, both of which went for two-run homers.
On the afternoon, he allowed five runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
We have to get to the point where we’re executing pitches,” Shelton said. “I think he was almost 50-50 balls-strikes. You’re flirting with danger when that happens.”
After a very strong start to the season, Brubaker is 0-8 with a 6.47 ERA and 15 home runs over his 11 starts since the calendar turned to June.
After throwing just 47 ⅓ innings in the abbreviated 2020 season and 27 ⅔ innings in an injury-shortened 2019, workload management has been on the Pirates’ mind with him, but Brubaker said his recent struggles aren’t because of fatigue.
“Every time I go out there, I’m taking the ball and I feel fresh,” Brubaker said. “I feel good. Body feels good. So physical fatigue definitely isn’t there. Mental fatigue ain’t there, because I’m not thinking about what could be or what possibly could happen. So I’m only focusing on one pitch, one batter at a time.”
• Anthony Alford wore the golden sombrero Thursday, striking out in all four of his plate appearances. He swung five times on the day and whiffed five times. Here’s where those pitches were located:
Alford has now struck out in 10 of his 17 at-bats since being called up. That comes after striking out 16 times in 29 trips to the plate in his first stint in the majors and 34.5% of the time with Class AAA Indianapolis.
This has been a constant problem since he reached the upper levels of the minor leagues. If he can’t make more consistent contact, then that’s that.
• So what are the Pirates doing with David Bednar? Shelton has said that the Pirates aren’t going to name a formal closer the rest of the way, but it still seems weird for him to be asked to go two frames.
Going into the late innings, Shelton said they were going to rely on either Chris Stratton or Bednar to go multiple innings. Stratton ended up facing only one batter, cleaning up a jam in the seventh and then being pinch-hit for in the home half of the inning.
Bednar struck out the side on 10 pitches in the eighth, but then gave up what would end up being the deciding run on back-to-back doubles to start the ninth.
“He left a ball up out over the plate to Goldy [Paul Goldschmidt], and he got it for the knock,” Shelton said.
• Moran was asked how the Pirates are handling this losing streak. Here's his full answer:
“I think we’re handling it good. There’s a lot of guys here today getting opportunities and working hard every day to make the most of it. You try not to look up the record and just treat every day, work hard, play a good nine innings, play a good game and try to win the ballgame. We’ve got a lot of guys working real hard and trying to put some wins together.”
They are now 41-74, eight losses away from their 25th losing season in 29 years.
• Michael Chavis hit three home runs with a .345 batting average in his first seven games with Class AAA Indianapolis. Tucupita Marcano has a .367 on-base percentage with Indianapolis and was recently ranked as the No. 7 prospect in the Pirates’ system by Baseball America.
There isn’t a wealth of major league-ready talent in AAA right now, but those who actually do have a chance need to get reps up in the Show. Same goes for Miguel Yajure, once his rehab assignment is done.
There’s opportunity in the majors. It needs to go to the right players.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Hoy Park, CF
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Jacob Stallings, C
4. Colin Moran, 1B
5. Wilmer Difo, 2B
6. Anthony Alford, LF
7. Gregory Polanco, RF
8. Kevin Newman, SS
9. JT Brubaker, RHP
And for Mike Shildt's Cardinals:
1. Dylan Carlson, LF
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
3. Nolan Arenado, 3B
4. Matt Carpenter, 2B
5. Paul De Jong, SS
6. Harrison Bader, CF
7. Tommy Edman, RF
9. Wade LeBlanc, LHP
THE SCHEDULE
Bring in a new team to PNC Park. The Pirates will wrap up the homestand with a three-game set against the Brewers starting Friday. Mitch Keller (3-9, 7.06) will take on Brett Anderson (4-5, 3.54) to start. First pitch will be at 7:35 p.m. I've got you covered from the ballpark.
IN THE SYSTEM
THE CONTENT
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