Pirates get the bullpen matchup they want, but it falls apart fast

ATLANTA -- Zach Thompson would say after the game that he had another inning in him.

"I think I could still keep going, but that's not my call," he responded, in reference to him being removed after five frames and 67 pitches, and perhaps most importantly, in a groove.

But he would continue.

"This is a team effort. Whenever they decide to pull me, they decide to pull me. Whatever we can do to get the win, that's what I want to do."

On Saturday at Truist Park, Derek Shelton opted to cut Thompson's outing short and go with a multi-inning reliever to bridge the gap instead. It's a strategy that, on a macro sense, has worked for the club.

It didn't Saturday. An eight-run seventh inning continued to snowball on Duane Underwood Jr. and Chris Stratton, and the Pirates lost to the Braves, 10-4.

That change to Underwood came after Thompson had gotten into a groove after a pair of first inning solo home runs. Leading 4-2 at the time, Thompson has been pulled earlier than most starters, but even at 67 pitches, it appeared to be an aggressive hook since the right-hander has shown he could go at least 80 or 85 pitches.

"We had the spot where we thought Underwood would be good," Shelton said on the decision to remove Thompson. He came in, was effective the first time. We thought Zach was near the end of where we wanted him to be. Obviously it didn’t work out in the seventh."

After a quick 1-2-3 sixth from Underwood, Shelton went back to him to face the bottom-half of the Braves' order. 

It appeared for a moment early that the rally could be cut short after Michael Chavis started what was originally called a 3-6-1 double-play, but it was easily overturned after the Braves challenged:

Michael Harris II followed with a base hit to bring the Braves back to within one, prompting Shelton to go to Chris Stratton. After hitting Ronald Acuña Jr. to load the bases, Dansby Swanson flared a slider to right to clear the bases and give the Braves the lead:

Four batters later, Ozzie Albies iced it with a grand slam:

Stratton would not record an out before being removed with the game effectively out of reach.

"That was a big situation," Stratton said. "I failed my team. Definitely a tough one to swallow, but I don’t know if I would have changed any pitch selection."

Had Underwood or Stratton gotten out of the jam or limited the damage, the Pirates had a clear pathway with their bullpen to snap their losing streak and get a win over the defending champs. They couldn't close it.

"This one stings just because we had the lead against a really good club, and we had it lined up exactly where we wanted it to," Shelton said. "We’ve talked about times before where we line up games and we don’t execute, and that was one of those games."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Last month, Thompson told me how he had made a mechanical adjustment, making sure he keeps his head straight during his delivery.

In his seven starts since that tweak, he has posted a 2.33 ERA with 26 strikeouts, eight walks and a .202 opponent batting average over 34 2/3 innings.

"Working with Oscar and getting my direction down [has been key]," Thompson said. "I [tweaked] a little bit with my mechanics that's really helped my stuff play out a lot better. I feel like as long as I can maintain that, all my pitches play and I'm able to keep working at being consistent. Consistency is key."

• It's hard to believe, considering he last pitched for the Pirates in 2015, but Saturday was Charlie Morton's first career start against the Pirates.

It was a wild line. He racked up 12 strikeouts over six innings, and of the 45 times the Pirates swung the bat, they whiffed (23), more often than they made contact of any kind (22). They only drew one walk.

They also scored four runs: Two in the first on home runs by Bryan Reynolds and Daniel Vogelbach, and then on a couple of two-out doubles in the fifth by Reynolds and Ke'Bryan Hayes.

Morton was replaced by Jesse Chavez, who went two scoreless frames and got the win. So yes, two members of the 2009 Pirates pitching staff kept the offense mostly in check today.

• Reynolds, though, was not kept in check. He picked up his second three-hit game of the season and the series, and now has eight hits on this trip to Atlanta.

In the process, his OPS has jumped from .689 on the season before the series to .744 now.

"I just swing at good pitches and just putting the ball in play, having some lucky breaks, hitting some balls hard," Reynolds said. "It's a bunch of different things."

"He looks like he’s in a better spot," Shelton said.

• It was in a losing effort, but this Tucupita Marcano catch needs to be properly chronicled:

In addition to retiring Adam Duvall there, Marcano made a pair of diving stops to his left for ground outs.

And this catch by Jack Suwinski on a sinking liner in the first is worth a mention, if for no other reason than it cost him a pair of sunglasses:

• That's 10 wins in a row for the Braves, and five losses in a row for the Pirates.

"It’s not secret they’re rolling. We’ve kind of been scuffling," Stratton said. "We really needed this one today."

• Factoid of the game: Reynolds' and Vogelbach's first inning home runs was the first time the Pirates had hit multiple homers in the same inning since Yoshi Tsutsugo and Jack Suwinski went deep against Yadier Molina on May 22. The last time it was against an actual pitcher was May 11 against the Dodgers.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 10-day injured list: OF Ben Gamel (hamstring), RHP Heath Hembree (calf), OF Jake Marisnick (thumb), 1B Yoshi Tsutsugo (lumbar muscle strain), Josh VanMeter (finger)

• 60-day injured list: Kevin Newman (groin), OF Greg Allen (hamstring), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery), Roberto Pérez (hamstring, out for season)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Tucupita Marcano, 2B
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Daniel Vogelbach, DH
5. Michael Chavis, 1B
6. Jack Suwinski, LF
7. Cal Mitchell, RF
8. Tyler Heineman, C
9. Diego Castillo, SS

And for Brian Snitker's Braves:

1. Ronald Acuña Jr., RF
2. Dansby Swanson, SS
3. Austin Riley, 3B
4. Matt Olson, 1B
5. Ozzie Albies, 2B
6. Marcell Ozuma, DH
7. William Contreras, C
8. Adam Duvall, LF
9. Michael Harris II, CF

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates and Braves will conclude their four-game set Sunday before the Pirates head out to St. Louis. José Quintana (1-3, 3.19) will take the bump against Kyle Wright (6-3, 2.39). First pitch is at 1:35 p.m.

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