MINNEAPOLIS -- Jack Suwinski came to the plate in the seventh inning Friday at Target Field with a chance at redemption. Instead, what happened was more of the same.
With runners on the corners, one out and the Pirates down 3-1, Suwinski had a chance to be the hero. He represented the go-ahead run, but even a productive out would go a long way to making a comeback.
Suwinski fell behind in the count 1-2, and the fourth pitch of the at-bat was a Griffin Jax breaking ball that he would admit tied him up:
"Just sitting, looking in a different spot and getting that slider on the corner," Suwinski said, going through the at-bat.
Strike three, second out. Henry Davis would follow with a strikeout swinging, and the Pirates failed to get that big hit to break into the game.
That was the common theme of the night Friday night, as the Pirates went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and fell to the Twins, 5-1.
Of those 13 fruitless trips to the plate with a runner in scoring position, Suwinski had arguably the most frustrating. In addition to his strikeout in the seventh, he also went down looking with runners on the corners and one out in the first inning. He did put a ball in play with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth, but it was a weakly hit pop up that was easily caught.
But it was the strikeouts that arguably changed the complexion of the game. Had Suwinski brought home the run in the first, even via a productive out, the Pirates could have grabbed an early lead and set the pace. In the seventh, another run would have put the Twins on their heels and pushed a late-inning rally.
Instead, they were two called strikes.
"I think it goes back to the aggressiveness," Derek Shelton said in reference to Suwinski's at-bats. "I know he’s got a good eye, I know he walks, but he’s going to have to be a little bit more aggressive in those situations."
"[I'm] just going up there with spotting the pitch and looking for it," Suwinski said. "Obviously, you gotta have a little bit better approach to put the ball in play, move the ball forward there. It's just something I wasn't able to execute, really, today."
Suwinski would seemingly benefit from more two-strike aggressiveness. His 53 stirkeouts looking are the most in baseball. Since the advent of pitch tracking in 2008, no Pirate has ever gone down looking as many times as him in a season. The previous record had been 52 by Pedro Alvarez in 2012.
Mind you, there is still about a quarter of the season left. Worse yet for Suwinski is there is still plenty of August left. This month has been incredibly rough for him, going just 4-for-49 with 24 strikeouts, 10 of which were looking.
How rough is this stretch? Last July, Suwinski slumped and was ultimately optioned to the minors after posting a .493 OPS over 44 trips to the plate. In 49 plate appearances this month, he has a .393 OPS (.082/.250/.143).
Not all of Friday's loss can be laid at Suwinski's feet. The Pirates had 11 other chances with a runner in scoring position and only got one flare from Bryan Reynolds, while Pablo López tossed six scoreless frames.
They have gotten plenty of runners on base this road trip, but have stranded many of them. Their 11 runners stranded was tied for the second-most for them in a game this season, topped only by the 13 they had Tuesday against the Mets. Since the start of May, the Pirates' .220 team batting average with runners in scoring position is 29th in baseball, only ahead of the Athletics. In August, they are right at the Mendoza line, batting .200 in those spots (30-for-150).
Meanwhile, the Twins effectively iced the game in the bottom of the seventh with a pair of two-out flares by Jorge Polanco and Kyle Farmer. They were the clutch, run-scoring hits the Pirates simply didn't get Friday.
"I think you saw it on the other side. They moved the ball," Shelton said. "...We had opportunities to score and we didn’t capitalize on them."
But Suwinski was the cleanup hitter and his hit in the front half of the lineup throughout one of the roughest stretches of his career. The team is counting on him being a run producer, and he hasn't done that this month.
"It's tough, obviously," Suwinski said. "I want to help the team out more. A lot of missed opportunities today and countless over the last few weeks. It is frustrating, super frustrating, but you can't can't change what already happened. So, just going to look for tomorrow and see what I can do, see what I can adjust and I can go from there, really."
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THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 15-day injured list: RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (elbow), RHP Dauri Moreta (lower back)
• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), INF Tucupita Marcano (knee), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ji Hwan Bae, CF
2. Bryan Reynolds, DH
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Jack Suwinski, LF
5. Henry Davis, RF
6. Endy Rodriguez, C
7. Liover Peguero, 2B
8. Alfonso Rivas, 1B
9. Alika Williams, SS
And for Rocco Baldelli's Twins:
1. Edouard Julien, DH
2. Royce Lewis, 3B
3. Max Kepler, RF
4. Carlos Correa, SS
5. Jorge Polanco, 2B
6. Matt Wallner, LF
7. Donovan Solano, 1B
8. Christian Vázquez, C
9. Michael A. Taylor, CF
THE SCHEDULE
Mitch Keller (9-8, 4.27) will take the ball Saturday against Sonny Gray (6-5, 3.04) in a matchup of All-Stars. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. Eastern. I'll have you covered.
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