CHICAGO -- Ever since joining the Pirates at the trade deadline, the sixth inning has been the wall for Bryse Wilson, never pitching beyond that frame.
On Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field, he didn’t even get to complete it. After Wilmer Difo made a high throw from deep in the third base hole and then Eloy Jiménez dropped a base hit to right, Derek Shelton opted to bring in Chasen Shreve to try to get out of the inning.
The decision backfired. Both runners would go on to score and the White Sox beat the Pirates, 4-2.
Wilson was at 69 pitches when he was removed from the game.
“We were trying to win the game, and we went with what we thought was the best situation there,” Shelton said.
Wilson had been touched up for some long fly balls throughout the night, two of which left the yard for solo shots -- though the second was a 355-footer from Jose Abreu that happened to ride the wind to right to just clear the wall -- but he was in control for most of the night before two tough luck hits chased him. Abreu's second hit was a single in the sixth, ending Wilson's night.
“I got the result I wanted,” Wilson said, referring to getting soft contact against Jose Abreu with a two-seamer to try to get out of the jam. “It just ended up being perfectly hit.”
Wilson was still going right after hitters with his two fastballs, but with Yasmani Grandal -- one of the two hitters who had gone deep that night -- due up, Shelton made the change.
Shreve walked the first two batters he faced, with Leury Garcia adding an insurance run via a sacrifice fly before the inning was over.
So what looked like a push start against a deep White Sox lineup turned into a very pedestrian line: Five innings pitched, four runs on six hits and a walk, with one strikeout.
“At the end of the day, for me, my stuff was good,” Wilson said. “Feel like I commanded the ball well. It's just about making those crucial pitches in those crucial times that can allow me to come out six innings and no runs instead of five innings and four runs.”
It is fair to ask why Wilson, a 23-year-old starter the club acquired a month ago, wasn’t -- and overall hasn’t -- been given those opportunities to try to execute those crucial pitches with the game on the line.
There are some health concerns with Wilson. He was unplugged for a bit recently, and unlike other pitchers on the team, the Pirates don’t have a full set of data of how his workload has been monitored.
“We will be very cautious of how the ball looks coming out of his hand,” Shelton said before Wilson’s first start back after a brief stint on the injured list with arm fatigue on August 25. “In saying that, it's not like he's at full go. We're gonna monitor that very closely."
The pitch count figure Shelton and pitching coach Oscar Marin consistently use when someone is on a shorter leash is 75-80 pitches. Shelton didn’t say if Wilson was on a pitch count again, but there should have been some wiggle room for him to face at least another hitter or two and perhaps get out of the jam.
But with all of the talk of giving players opportunities to prove themselves, especially in this final month of the season, hasn’t Wilson earned that? You can go for the win too, but at 48-84, shouldn’t development be the top priority?
To try to build off of this start for the rest of this year and into 2022?
“Obviously the line doesn't show it, but I feel like I threw well,” Wilson said. “I threw the game that I wanted to throw, and for me, I take nothing but confidence out of this outing going into the next one.”
MORE FROM THE GAME
• After being no-hit at Guaranteed Rate Field by Lucas Giolito last year, the Pirates did manage a pair of runs off the right-hander this time.
However, on the night, they mustered only five hits, all singles. Those two runs were more a product of a pair of fifth inning wild pitches from Giolito more than anything.
Giolito exited in the fifth with left hamstring tightness, but with the exception fo a game-tying single from Colin Moran, the bullpen shut down the Pirates' offense from there. Craig Kimbrel pitched a quiet eighth, and Liam Hendricks got the save.
• If you're looking for something positive out of this one, Nick Mears tossed a 1-2-3 seventh on eighth pitches, and Sam Howard allowed just one base runner on a walk in his only inning. Both relievers had been having trouble finding their footing after being promoted from Class AAA Indianapolis.
• Ke'Bryan Hayes is still day-to-day after injuring his right hand in Sunday's win over the Cardinals.
He has a blood blister after he slammed his helmet down in frustration mid-game. After playing about another inning and a half in the field, he was removed with discomfort.
Hayes took ground balls pregame and is treating the blister and getting treatment, but he isn't swinging a bat yet.
Almost always a level-headed player, Hayes is frustrated with how he conducted himself.
“I missed two months already this year. I’ve got to be a lot smarter than that," Hayes said on the field, referencing a left wrist injury he suffered the second game of the season that put him on the 60-day injured list. "It’s not fair to my teammates, the manager, making the lineup and all that stuff. Just got to be smarter than that.”
• Also before the game, the Pirates placed Michael Chavis on the 10-day injured list with right elbow discomfort. He suffered that injury Saturday night making a leaping attempt on a fly ball.
"He had some imagining done yesterday, and we thought it was nothing drastic or major," Shelton said. "It was just more the soreness and him trying to get him back.
Hoy Park was recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis to take his place on the roster. He got the start at second base Tuesday, going 0-for with a walk and a run scored. He grounded into the game-ending double play.
Also on the Pirates taxi squad this trip are starter Max Kranick (more on him in a minute), right-hander Shelby Miller (who is going to have his contract selected soon) and utilityman Phillip Evans. Rosters expand from 26 to 28 players Wednesday.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card, with Wilson starting:
1. Ben Gamel, LF
2. Wilmer Difo, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Colin Moran, DH
5. Jacob Stallings, C
6. Yoshi Tsutsugo, 1B
7. Kevin Newman, SS
8. Hoy Park, 2B
9. Cole Tucker, RF
And for Tony La Russa's White Sox, with the right-hander Giolito on the mound:
1. Luis Robert, CF
2. Yoán Moncada, 3B
3. Jose Abreu, 1B
4. Eloy Jiménez, DH
5. Yasmani Grandal, C
6. Brian Goodwin, RF
7. Andrew Vaughn, LF
8. Leury García, SS
9. César Henández, 2B
THE SYSTEM
• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates will wrap up their short series with the south siders before heading north to Wrigley. Kranick (1-2, 7.20) will be activated off the taxi squad to take Mitch Keller's turn in the rotation. He will face Carlos Rodón (10-5, 2.43). First pitch will be at 8:10 p.m. Eastern.
THE CONTENT
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