MIAMI -- They battled late, but if they had produced early, they wouldn't have needed to.
Trailing 2-0 in the top of the eighth, the Pirates were able to chip away at the Marlins' lead at loanDepot Park late Saturday. Carlos Santana got them on the board with an eighth inning single. Jason Delay tied the game with two outs in the ninth with a double to left. Ke'Bryan Hayes came through in the 10th with a two out single to left.
But the Marlins would get that run back in the 10th, though through no fault of David Bednar, who allowed the automatic runner to score on a ground out and a sacrifice fly in his second inning of work. In the eleventh, the bottom of the Pirates' order couldn't come through, while Jon Berti lined a game-winner into the gap against Angel Perdomo to clinch it for the Marlins, 4-3 in 11 innings.
It was a valiant effort late, but not enough to avoid the team's 11th loss in 12 games, the second such stretch they've had this year.
"We keep grinding," Derek Shelton said. "We had a chance to win the first three games [of this series]. The first night we pitched well and had a bad inning. Last night, did a good job and tonight continued to battle back and just weren't able to finish it off."
A couple more wins this series would have done wonders for a team trying to regroup after a 10-game losing streak. That streak could have been avoided with some more offensive production against starters, though. In fact, this June could have been very different if they hit the starting pitchers they faced.
The Pirates have been, in many regards, the worst offense in the National League this month. Their .647 OPS as a team in June entering play Saturday was 28th in baseball and last in the National League, and their 72 runs scored are the second-fewest in the Senior Circuit in June behind the Nationals.
But in this series against the Marlins, they have shown signs of life, albeit in small doses. Henry Davis and Hayes broke the first game potentially open Thursday with a pair of home runs in the eighth. A three-run rally in the ninth Friday snapped their losing streak. They rallied late again Saturday.
But in the first seven innings of those three games, they only have two runs scored, one of which came on a catcher throwing error. The Marlins' starters have been outstanding this series, with Bryan Hoeing going five no-hit innings before handing the ball over to the bullpen Saturday, but that's only part of the equation.
It's been a very common theme of late.
Factoring in Saturday, Pirate hitters have a .196 batting average and .309 slugging percentage against starting pitchers this month. Entering play, their .274 wOBA against starters was the worst month of any National League club against starting pitching in a month this season.
It's why even though the rotation has been good of late -- Osvaldo Bido came just an out short of a quality start with just two runs on his ledger, making it a full turn through the rotation where everyone went at least 5 2/3 innings -- the Pirates have often been trailing in these games.
"I don't think it's prep," Shelton said for why they aren't hitting starters. "It's not like we're not preparing. It's not like we're not working. But we have to do a better job off starters. We've faced good starting pitching, but we have got to create more opportunities."
Figuring out why they haven't hit pitchers out of the box has been a question without an answer of late. Chatting around the clubhouse postgame, there was acknowledgement that they had done well late in games recently, but they are putting themselves in a bad situation early.
"As an offense, all you can do is just try and stick to your game plan and chip away and try not to do too much," Andrew McCutchen said. "I don't feel like any guys out there are trying to do too much. I think they're staying within themselves and it's just luck of the draw right now with how the offense has been early, especially. But, all you can do is keep battling away, waiting for your pitches, waiting for something to hit."
"I wish I had the answer," Delay said. "Obviously the offense has been struggling as of late, but you're right, when the game is on the line, we kind of seem to respond well. I don't know what we can do about [starters]."
Without an answer, the Pirates are putting themselves in a position where they are playing catchup with a bullpen that's been ravaged by injuries. It's a situation that can lead to extended losing streaks.
"It's definitely frustrating," Shelton said. "We've got to figure out a way the first couple times through the order to attack starters."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: OF Bryan Reynolds (lower back)
• 15-day injured list: LHP Jose Hernandez (calf), RHP Colin Holderman (wrist), LHP Rob Zastryzny (forearm), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), 1B Ji-Man Choi (Achilles), RHP Wil Crowe (shoulder), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Josh Palacios, LF
2. Andrew McCutchen, DH
3. Jack Suwinski, CF
4. Carlos Santana, 1B
5. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
6. Henry Davis, RF
7. Tucupita Marcano, SS
8. Nick Gonzales, 2B
9. Jason Delay, C
And for Skip Schumaker's Marlins:
1. Luis Arráez, 2B
2. Jorge Soler, RF
3. Bryan De La Cruz, LF
4. Jesus Sanchez, CF
5. Garrett Cooper, DH
6. Yuli Gurriel, 1B
7. Joey Wendle, SS
8. Jacob Stallings, C
9. Jon Berti, 3B
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates will try to salvage a series split in the finale Sunday afternoon. Johan Oviedo (3-7, 4.30) will take the bump against Eury Perez (4-1, 1.54). First pitch is set for 1:40 p.m. I'll have you covered.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
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