As Pirates drop another close game, Cherington says 'we have to keep learning and getting better'

The Pirates went into the eighth inning with the lead in every game against the Cardinals this weekend. They still lost the series.

That includes a ninth inning collapse from Chase De Jong at PNC Park Sunday, allowing a pair of late home runs to blow the save and lose, 4-3.

If some of these losses feel like they're meshing together, well, it's probably because they are. That's the 88th defeat on the season for the Pirates, who need to either play above .500 baseball down the stretch or finish with a second consecutive 100-loss season, something that hasn't been done in the franchise's history since 1952-54. It will very likely also be their fourth 100 loss season.

There were bright spots. Mitch Keller went seven shutout innings, and Jack Suwinski homered again. But those spots do not make up for the fact that the roster as a whole is not at the same level of the Cardinals, who are coming close to clinching another National League Central crown.

After the trade deadline, Ben Cherington said the word he would use to describe the Pirates' situation was "urgency." How does that apply to improving that roster this winter?

“I don’t feel any more urgency than I have every day that I’ve been here," Cherington told reporters before the game. "Our entire jobs, our entire lives really, are focused on making the Pirates better. And everything we do is only about that. We know that we’re not going to get everything right over time as we try to do that. We have to keep learning and getting better and better and better at everything we do. As we do that, the results will get better on the field. Mostly, I just keep focusing on those things: What do we need to get better at in evaluation or how we acquire players or how we develop players or how we are using them in major league games. That’s where I spend my energy. 

“We get to do this. We get the opportunity to do something about this. Not everyone gets that. I feel urgency every day but no more so now than three years ago. I think I’m more excited, excited about getting the opportunity to do something about this – and I think we will.” 

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Mitch Keller is on a roll, extending his scoreless innings streak to 15 -- the most for any Pirate pitcher this season -- with seven spotless frames, walking three and allowing just a pair of base hits. He struck out half a dozen.

Keller relied on his curveball more than he had for most of his starts, but for the most part had a pretty even mix between that and both of his fastballs before mixing in the slider for a couple punch outs late.

"Just one of those things where I feel really good and everything was working," Keller said. "Every spin pitch I had was working really good. Four-seam and two-seam were playing really well. I only threw two changeups, but they were both pretty good so any time you can have a mix like that going, it's going to be a good day."

After leaning in heavy with the sinker for a while, Keller has seen a spike in strikeouts of late by using all of his pitches.

"A combination of having both of those fastballs and both spin pitches on is a good recipe for a good amount of strikeouts,"he said.

But despite that performance, he didn't get a win to show for it.

De Jong opened the ninth by allowing back-to-back doubles to Tommy Edman and Corey Dickerson before Albert Pujols launched one to center to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game. Tyler O'Neill tacked another one later in what would end up being a vital insurance run.

"Stuff that was supposed to be up was down," De Jong said. "Stuff that was supposed to be below the zone stayed in the zone, and that's on me. I've got to execute better in key situations like that."

• So why De Jong in the ninth?

"In defense of Chase, he’s probably been our best reliever over the last two months," Shelton said. "This was probably, over that time, the only outing where he has not thrown the ball effectively. That’s one of those things we had scripted it out before the game, we knew exactly where we were going to get to. We got into certain lanes and knew he was going to pitch there. He just didn’t have his best stuff today. Over the last two months, he’s probably gotten us out of more jams than anybody that we have.”

Without David Bednar in the mix, the Pirates have been going to other relievers who have had success in middle relief for those late-inning spots, like De Jong and Wil Crowe, but the results have not translated.

"I think the eighth and ninth are a different animal," Shelton said. "We’ve seen that throughout the course of the year. We have to figure out ways to give those guys an opportunity and then finish them.”

• That's 697 for Pujols, moving him past Alex Rodriguez for the fourth-most in MLB history.

Him passing Rodriguez was hardly a given a month ago, but over his last 28 games, he's gone deep 11 times, putting him on the edge of 700 here in the final month of his major-league career.

“It’s extremely impressive," Shelton said. "We’re talking about one of the best players of our generation. He’s finishing his career very strongly. You know it’s in there, that he has the ability and you still have to execute pitches to him. The one thing you can say about guys of his magnitude is the moment is never too big for him and he stays under control. If you make mistakes, he’s going to capitalize.” 

• Going back to Bednar for a moment, Cherington confirmed he will need a rehab assignment before he is able to return to major-league games, but they still expect him to return before the end of the year. Same goes for Dillon Peters.

"We feel in those cases, there’s no reason not to [bring them back]," Cherington said. "They’re major league pitchers. And if they’re past their issue and far enough into their recovery to come back and pitch, we’ve still got games left so they should come back and pitch.”

• Guess what song Keller entered the game to? If you've been paying attention this weekend, you probably could have guessed it was "Mueve Mami," José Quintana's entrance music from when he was with the Pirates.

"He meant a lot," Keller said, being the third Pirate starter to open to that song this series. "10 years, huge veteran presence in our locker room and our clubhouse. Yeah, it was just awesome. He's a special dude, a special human being, let alone just a really good pitcher. He had a huge impact on all of us just showing us how it goes. I mean how to be a pro day in and day out, following his example. Just a great individual."

Quintana pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball for the Cardinals, and Chris Stratton got the win for finishing up a scoreless eighth.

• Could we see some more kids called up before the end of the year? Cherington said he 

"I think there's still players that we'd like to get to Pittsburgh for some opportunity," Cherington said. "Case-by-case. I think probably if last year was any indication, those players were in Triple-A at the time that that happened, and we'll see. Altoona's also still playing for something. I think it's been fun watching that group in Altoona come together and play for something down the stretch, so we'll see. We'd still like to see some players get up here and get a little opportunity."

To speculate on some names, Endy Rodriguez, Mike Burrows and Ji-hwan Bae will all need to be added to the 40 man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Cherington said players don't have to currently be on the 40 man roster to potentially be a late-season call up. There are also the two most recent waiver claims, right-hander Junior Fernandez and catcher/first baseman Zack Collins. 

• Factoid of the game: Pujols has his 34 career home runs at PNC Park, the most out of any ballpark outside of the ones he called his home (Busch Stadium II, Busch Stadium III, Angel Stadium). His home run Sunday broke the tie he had with Minute Maid Park at 33. Pujols also played 52 more games in his career in Houston.

• With the loss, the Pirates fall to 51-88 on the season, and 12-34 since the All-Star break. Their .367 wining percentage puts them on pace for a 59-103 record. They need to play winning baseball -- 12-11 -- down the stretch to avoid a second straight 100-loss season.

THE ESSENTIALS

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

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 15-day injured list: RHP David Bednar (back), LHP Dillon Peters (left elbow)

• 60-day injured list: RHP Yerry De Los Santos (lat), OF Canaan Njigba-Smith (wrist), RHP Colin Holderman (right shoulder), RHP Blake Cederlind (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), C Roberto Pérez (hamstring)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card for game two:

1. Oneil Cruz, DH
2. Bryan Reynolds, CF
3. Rodolfo Castro, 2B
4. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
5. Michael Chavis, 1B
6. Jack Suwinski, LF
7. Kevin Newman, SS
8. Greg Allen, RF
9. Jason Delay, C

And for Oliver Marmol's Cardinals:

1. Brendan Donovan, 3B
2. Tommy Edman, SS
3. Corey Dickerson, LF
4. Albert Pujols, 1B
5. Lars Nootbaar, RF
6. Tyler O'Neill, CF
7. Nolan Gorman, 2B
8. Yadier Molina, C
9. Alec Burleson, DH

THE SCHEDULE

Time to hit the road again. First up is a four-game series in three days against the Reds, with Bryse Wilson (2-8, 6.11) and Mike Minor (4-10, 5.70) taking the ball in game one Monday. Chris Halicke is going to stay in Cincinnati for a couple more days to cover it, while I'll catch up with you guys in New York.

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