ST. LOUIS -- It turns out the 10th time isn’t a charm.
The Pirates failed -- yet again -- to record their first sweep of the season Sunday, getting shut down by Adam Wainwright -- yet again -- and the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, 3-0.
The Pirates remain the only team in baseball without a sweep. Every other team got their first one by the end of May.
Instead, they managed just four hits, two of which came with two outs in the ninth. Against Wainwright, all they could manage was a Kevin Newman double and Gregory Polanco bunt single.
“Obviously we’ve had trouble finishing one, but I don’t think there’s any mental component to that at all,” Derek Shelton said.
With just 38 games and 12 series remaining, the Pirates are running out of opportunities to get that elusive first sweep. It isn’t exactly an easy homestretch either, facing the Reds three more times plus series against the White Sox, Cardinals and Phillies, all of whom are competing for a playoff spot.
If they do fail to get a sweep, they’ll be joining a very select group of teams who lost at least once each series.
According to MLBSweeps.com, the Pirates have recorded at least one series sweep each season dating back to at least 1961. While the 1985 and 2005 teams could only manage two-game series sweeps, this year’s club has been unable to even do that.
Dating back to 1961, the Pirates could be just the seventh team to not get a sweep in a season. The other teams include:
1983 Mariners
2004 Diamondbacks
2004 Royals
2018 Marlins
2019 Orioles
2020 Cardinals
So while the Pirates can end the road trip with a series win, they’re inching closer to history.
“We don’t really talk about it too much,” Steven Brault said. “It’s kind of just like one of those, ‘Egh! … Ack! We were so close.’ But I think we’ll get one. We’ve got enough time, and I think we’ll get one here soon.”
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Brault admitted he didn’t have his best stuff Sunday, which is why he only got one strikeout and six whiffs over his four innings of one-run ball. He also allowed five hits and two walks.
“I made some good pitches, they got some good hits,” Brault said. “Overall, I was able to get through it as well as I could with my stuff today."
He did make a SportsCenter worthy play to help keep the Pirates in the game early. With runners on the corners and one out, Wainwright tried to pick up an RBI via a safety squeeze. He tapped the ball on the edge of the infield grass, and Brault was able to barehand the ball and feed it to catcher Michael Pérez while midair. Pérez then tagged Lars Nootbaar out before he got back to third:
You can’t practice something like that.
“That's one of those plays where you just do it live,” Brault said. “For whatever reason, I decided that was the easiest way to get to it and toss it at the same time. I was kind of surprised that he was going. I thought once the bunt was down and I was coming in, I thought he would turn around. So I enjoyed it. It was fun. I caught the ground pretty hard with my knee, which is why I was oofing afterwards. I left a nice little divet.”
Brault was pulled for Kyle Keller, who immediately gave up a solo home run to Paul Goldschmidt. Anthony Banda allowed another run in the eighth.
• Death. Taxes. Wainwright at Busch Stadium.
Over his last 17 starts against the Pirates at home, Wainwright has pitched to a 1.87 ERA and celebrated a victory with his teammates. That dates all the way back to
After throwing a two-hit shutout -- a Maddux, even -- against the Pirates on August 11, Wainwright continued to torture Pirates hitters with his curveball, tossing eight innings of two-hit ball.
Guess who will be returning to PNC Park this weekend? How do you counter someone who has had the Pirates’ number for almost a decade now?
“If I would have known, we would have done that today,” Shelton said. “I think we’re going to get him again next weekend, so we have some days to think about it and talk with our staff.”
“I’m open to ideas, if you got any,” he added at the end.
• Yoshi Tsutsugo can’t play left field. He made two horrendous fielding plays on the day, one of which almost cost his team a run in the fourth because he took a slow, poor route to a Nootbaar pop fly.
Nootbaar would end up being erased on the bases by Brault’s diving play.
The other instance came in the eighth inning, when he whiffed trying to grab a Nootbaar bloop in the eighth. The ball would end up going by him, and had it not been for Bryan Reynolds backing up the play, both of the runners would have been able to advance.
PNC Park’s left field is significantly bigger than Busch Stadium’s. If he can’t field an outfield spot, there isn’t enough time for a left-hand hitting corner infielder with the Pirates’ current roster. Ke’Bryan Hayes and Colin Moran are going to play. Tsutsugo is here for six more weeks (well, maybe) before his contract expires. If he can’t field, he won’t get the opportunities he needs to hit.
• It’s only fitting that Nootbaar, after benefiting from some horrible defense as a hitter, would end the game with a web gem of his own.
After Hayes and Reynolds picked up bloop singles with two outs off Alex Reyes in the ninth, Moran put a charge into a slider that stayed up, but Nootbaar was able to make a leaping grab while running towards the wall:
Yeah, “Lars Nootbaar” sounds like the name of a Pirate killer. Very on brand for the Cardinals.
• Polanco has been placed on outright waivers, per a source. More on that can be found right here.
Ben Cherington said on his radio show on 93.7 The Fan Sunday that Roansy Contreras threw a live batting practice and is expected to return to games this week.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Yoshi Tsutsugo, LF
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Colin Moran, 1B
5. Gregory Polanco, RF
6. Kevin Newman, SS
7. Michael Perez, C
8. Hoy Park, 2B
9. Steven Brault, LHP
And for Mike Schildt's Cardinals:
1. Tommy Edman, 2B
2. Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
3. Tyler O'Neill, LF
4. Nolan Arenado, 3B
5. Yadier Molina, C
6. Lars Nootbaar, RF
7. Edmundo Sosa, SS
8. Harrison Bader, CF
9. Adam Wainwright, RHP
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates return home for a three-game set against Arizona that could have significant implications on the order of picks in the 2022 MLB Draft. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. from PNC Park on Monday. Dejan will have coverage from the ballpark tomorrow.
IN THE SYSTEM
THE CONTENT
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