"Grabbed the frickin’ two-seam."
Michael Chavis had just caught Matt Vierling's hot shot one-hopper cleanly at first base and made what Derek Shelton thought was the right decision to try to catch the runner on second, Didi Gregorious, going to third. He seemed to have Gregorious by a step, which would eliminate the automatic runner in scoring position for the 10th inning.
But he grabbed the baseball out of the glove at the wrong seam, and the throw across the diamond was out of Ke'Bryan Hayes' range:
"It just ran, sank just like a two seam does," Chavis said.
Gregorious would score, giving the Phillies the lead in the 10th. In the home half of the inning, Oneil Cruz was the Pirates' automatic runner, but he was picked off second before Bligh Madris could even finish his at-bat:
"Caught me by surprise in that situation," Cruz said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez. "It's definitely something that I will learn and I guarantee it will not happen again."
Those 10th inning miscues were the different in the Pirates' 2-1 loss to the Phillies at PNC Park Saturday night, the sixth straight loss by the home team in what has been one of the rougher stretches of the year results wise.
Just about every one of those losses can circle back to a moment or two that decided the game.
On Sunday, Diego Castillo and Kevin Newman struck out in the ninth with the winning run in scoring position.
On Monday against the Cubs, it was Chavis missing a throw from Cruz, letting the eventual winning run on base in the eighth.
On Thursday, Madris misplayed a ball in right-center field which took an unfortunate bounce off the wall for Greg Allen who was backing up, resulting in a two-run triple. Again, the Pirates lost by one.
On Friday, Cruz made a key base running mistake at second. In the eighth inning, his left foot went over the bag towards third, which by rule, means he has shown intent of going to third. Since he did not touch the bag, Cruz did not believe he had to re-tag to head back to first on a fly out. He needed to, and it turned into an inning-ending double play.
On Saturday, well, there was Cruz at second base again.
"These situations, I can't let them beat me up," Cruz said. "I've just got to grow from them."
When the Pirates have those teachable moments, they walk through them during advanced meetings ahead of series. There will be plenty of moments to review from this series, one that could wind up a four-game sweep.
"The physical mistakes, we're going to make physical mistakes," Shelton said. "We have to avoid making mental mistakes in such a small margin."
“Going back to what I said at the beginning of the year, just a little bit more focus here and there, whether that’s focusing on the scouting report, focusing on the situation — just anything," Mitch Keller said. "It’s the little things that matter. We’re not scoring as many runs as we’d like, so we’ve got to focus up a little bit more and really find a way to get some runs across the board.”
The amount of close losses and a streak like this can weigh on a club. Especially when they were very close to potentially winning four or five instead.
"We've got to keep going," Shelton said. "We've got to keep teaching. It can be frustrating, it is very frustrating to lose games like this."
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Keller admitted after the game that he didn't have his slider Saturday, allowing some hard contact and getting into some jams early.
Unlike earlier this season, though, he was able to work around those tough spots mostly unscathed, allowing just one run on an opposite field J.T. Realmuto solo shot in his sixth and final inning.
Keller credited to his success to the two-seamer. In his 11 starts since he started throwing it, he has recorded a 3.32 ERA and is averaging 5 2/3 innings a start.
“I think in the past, only having [my] fastball [and] curveball, by having that slider not working, I’m limited to fastball/curveball, sprinkling in changeups here and there," Keller said. "But just having the two-seam, to be able to have two different fastballs, especially when one of the off-speed’s not on the way I like it, it gives me so much more freedom to just navigate through lineups and get creative.”
He allowed five hits and three walks and struck out three Saturday.
"I think we continue to see him grow as a pitcher because tonight was a night he did not have his regular stuff that we have seen over the last seven outings," Shelton said. "It's still six innings, one run against a really good team."
• Keller did get some help in the third. With Kyle Schwarber on second, Rhys Hoskins lined a ball up the third base line that Keller admitted he thought was a double off the bat.
Instead, he was able to snag it off the hop and when he got up to his feet, he brought the ball back like he was going to throw onto first, but instead turned his attention to second to catch Schwarber in a rundown:
"I think that's why we see Ke'Bryan is one of the elite defenders in the game and I'm not talking about elite third baseman," Shelton said.
"The dude is a special player,” Keller said.
• Before the game, Chase De Jong (knee) threw his first sim game since being placed on the injured list on July 17.
On Thursday, director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said De Jong could potentially be on the injured list the 15 day minimum. That will partially depend on how he feels Sunday and how his body responded.
• Scroll back up to the top of this article. Look at that full house. The announced attendance was 38,781, the most at PNC Park since April 3, 2016.
It was good to see a full house, even if there was a lot of red.
• The Pirates are now 40-61. They are on pace for a 64-98 final record.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: OF Jake Marisnick (great toe)
• 15-day injured list: RHP Chase De Jong (knee)
• 60-day injured list: OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), RHP Blake Cederlind (UCL), RHP Nick Mears (elbow surgery) RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Kevin Newman, SS
2. Greg Allen, CF
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Michael Chavis, 1B
5. Ben Gamel, DH
6. Diego Castillo, 2B
7. Bligh Madris, LF
8. Cal Mitchell, RF
9. Jason Delay, C
And for Rob Thomson's Phillies:
1. Kyle Schwarber, LF
2. Rhys Hoskins, 1B
3. Alec Bohm, 3B
4. J.T. Realmuto, C
5. Nick Castellanos, RF
6. Darick Hall, DH
7. Bryson Stott, 2B
8. Didi Gregorious, SS
9. Matt Vierling, CF
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates will try to salvage one game of this series Sunday at 1:35 p.m. JT Brubaker (2-8) will take the bump against Aaron Nola (6-8, 3.32). DK will have you covered.
THE CONTENT
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