It's not one of the all-time baseball classics, but there is a quote from 'Fever Pitch' that really sticks out on a day like this:
"And the thing is, the Sox don't just lose. They raise it to an art form."
Of course, that movie chronicles a fictional romance that coincides with the 2004 Red Sox team that finally broke the Curse of the Bambino. But all you've gotta do is replace 'Sox' with 'Buccos,' and it's probably a sentiment that's echoing in living rooms, basements and sports bars throughout the region.
Only, Pittsburgh fans are far more tortured than anyone in Boston.
The Pirates' 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park provided some of the same old inept execution in key spots. But it also came with a baffling managerial decision.
The Pirates fell behind early, but stormed back from a 3-0 deficit, courtesy of this two-run double by Josh VanMeter in the fourth:
And this 115.8-mph laser by Oneil Cruz in the next inning:
Just when one might think the Pirates are on their way to being swept, those Battlin' Buccos make a game out of it.
When JT Brubaker hit his limit with one out and two on in the sixth, Derek Shelton opted for Chase De Jong to try and clean up the mess. That's a great choice since De Jong has not only been the Pirates most consistent reliever all season, but he's also stretched out to pitch multiple innings.
In fact, the last time De Jong pitched one inning or less was July 16. Including Sunday, he's made 11 appearances since that day. He's be a great candidate to finish the sixth, then handle the seventh before handing the ball to the back of the bullpen.
De Jong walked the bases loaded, but was able to get Whit Merrifield to ground into a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play, keeping the game tied, 3-3. And he needed only 13 pitches to do it.
However, due to "the volume he had before," Shelton did not send De Jong back out for the seventh inning.
"I think we picked the situation probably with the highest leverage where the stat was at the time," Shelton said. "But he was not available to go back out."
Instead, Shelton called on Duane Underwood Jr. to pitch the seventh with the game still tied, 3-3.
After back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, Underwood set himself up for a scoreless inning with a critical 4-6-3 double play. Instead, Underwood left an 0-2 pitch in the middle of the plate, opening the door for Teoscar Hernandez to come through with two outs and give Toronto a lead they would never surrender:
As far as Shelton's reasoning for using Underwood in the seventh:
"It was a matchup thing and we didn't execute a pitch. We threw an 0-2 pitch right down the middle. We got the double play ball from [Vladimir Guerrero Jr.] and we got Teoscar in an advantage count, and we did not execute a pitch. We threw an 0-2 pitch right down the middle, and he's too good a hitter to do that to. We have to execute a better pitch there."
He's not wrong. That's not a competitive 0-2 pitch against an accomplished hitter.
But, why was Underwood available even if the matchup was favorable? Underwood had just logged 37 pitches in 2/3 innings in Saturday's 4-1 loss. That's two outings in less than 24 hours, and the first was rather taxing. Shelton's answer to that question was the actually the answer two paragraphs above. He put it on the lack of execution on an 0-2 pitch.
To reiterate, De Jong is built up for multiple innings. He's logged more than one inning in 26 of 32 appearances this season. And he's previously logged consecutive multi-inning appearances in a two-day stretch. He threw 33 pitches in 1 1/3 innings on Aug. 11, then turned around and threw 24 pitches in two innings on Aug. 13.
De Jong threw 36 pitches over two innings in Friday's 4-0 loss, then he only needed 13 pitches to get two outs in the sixth inning Sunday. It just doesn't add up that De Jong would be unavailable for another inning while Underwood -- who hasn't pitched two innings in an outing since June 7 -- would be able to go after being pushed to the limit less than 24 hours prior.
Make no mistake about it. Shelton has had the daunting task of handling the carousel of young players making trips between Pittsburgh and Class AAA Indianapolis this season.
But, it's decisions like this that open the door for fans to question if this is the guy who can lead this team back to contention.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• In spite of Shelton's decisions in the sixth and seventh innings, the Pirates still had a prime opportunity to not only tie the game but also win it in the ninth.
Jack Suwinski and Cal Mitchell led off with back-to-back singles off Jordan Ramano, one of the more dominant closers in the game. And thanks to some aggressive baserunning by Suwinski on Mitchell's single and Greg Allen's uncontested steal of second base while pinch running for Mitchell, the Pirates had runners on second and third with nobody out.
Any ball in play would have given the Pirates a great chance to at least tie the game, with a base hit possibly delivering a walkoff winner.
Instead, this happened:
"We've got to put the ball in play," Shelton bluntly said. "We're talking about an elite closer there, but we get into a situation where Suwinski and Mitchell do a good job, Jack does a good job running the bases, Greg gets to second ... we've got to find a way to make contact. I understand the execution of pitches by Romano and he's really good, but we've got to give ourselves a chance and we didn't."
Some slack should be given for Kevin Newman, as he was coming in as a pinch-hitter for Heineman and needed a base hit instead of any ball in play to produce a run.
"Two outs is a little challenging, because we need a hit there," Shelton said. "The other two situations, we need a ball in play to make them field a ball, and we just did not execute."
• In case anyone is thinking the Pirates are legitimately tanking -- and days like Sunday are not a good argument against that -- remember that next summer's draft order will be decided by lottery for those who did not make the postseason. The Pirates could end up with the worst record in Major League Baseball, but they are not guaranteed the No. 1 pick in the subsequent draft.
• Brubaker hadn't pitched since Aug. 23 as he and his wife, Darci, welcomed their first child into the world last week. Even with a bit of rust that needed shaking in the first couple innings, Brubaker handled the potent Toronto lineup pretty well, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings.
The one unearned run came courtesy of this error by Rodolfo Castro:
Even in spite of the excitement and sleepless nights that come with caring for a newborn, Brubaker was itching to get back to building off what's been an encouraging season.
"For me, mentally, it's one of those things where I was ready to take the ball and I was ready to get back in," Brubaker said. "I don't want to say it's like you never left. Got jumbled around in the rotation. Mentally-wise, it was there. It was the same mentality. Just ready to take the ball and toe the rubber."
• The paid attendance for Sunday's game was 14,903. However, a very sizable portion of that crowd supported the road team. And this is the last Sunday until Feb. 19 without NFL football.
• The Pirates are now 49-84. They now need to finish 14-15 in order to avoid another 100-loss season.
• In some good news, David Bednar (back) threw a side session Sunday and Ke'Bryan Hayes (shoulder) took batting practice inside during the game.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 15-day injured list: RHP David Bednar (back), RHP Colin Holderman (right shoulder), LHP Dillon Peters (left elbow)
• 60-day injured list: RHP Yerry De Los Santos (lat), OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), RHP Blake Cederlind (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Oneil Cruz, SS
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Rodolfo Castro, 3B
4. Ben Gamel, DH
5. Jack Suwinski, LF
6. Cal Mitchell, RF
7. Josh VanMeter, 1B
8. Tucupita Marcano, 2B
9. Tyler Heineman, C
And for Casey Candaele's Blue Jays:
1. Matt Chapman, 3B
2. Vladimir Guerroro Jr., 1B
3. Teoscar Hernández, RF
4. Alejandro Kirk, DH
5. Bo Bichette, SS
6. Cavan Biggio, 2B
7. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., LF
8. Whit Merrifield, CF
9. Danny Jensen, C
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates begin a three-game series with the Mets Monday afternoon. Mitch Keller (4-10, 4.43) will face off against Taijuan Walker (10-3, 3.45), with first pitch coming at 12:35 p.m. Alex Stumpf has got you covered on Labor Day.
THE CONTENT
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