Three perfect innings with secondary stuff working to a near-perfection appeared to have set up Andre Jackson for a rock-solid follow-up to his rock-solid outing six days prior in Kansas City.
That previous start, in which he allowed just one run on two hits while striking out a career-high seven in nearly six innings of work, appeared to give some building blocks for a pitcher who had not started a major-league game in two seasons before arriving to the Pirates organization in 2023.
The opening three innings were positive. The inning and a third to follow were not. After allowing all zeroes to the National League Central-leading Brewers in those three innings, Jackson unraveled to walk five batters, allow three hits, and permit six Crew members to cross home plate, leading to a 7-3 loss to Milwaukee on a warm evening at PNC Park Tuesday.
"Yeah, command of the zone would be it," Derek Shelton said. "It didn't look like the stuff ticked down a little bit. It's just he wasn't on the plate. And so, we got to make sure we get on the plate because he was hitless, worked out of a jam because of two previous walks. But overall, it just came down to execution of the fastball."
Jackson went nine up, nine down while throwing 35 pitches and 25 for strikes while breezing by Brewers batters, all while his changeup and slider were being located well on either halves of the plate.
Then, it was as if a switch had been flipped in the fourth inning, beginning with a leadoff free pass to Christian Yelich.
And another free pass to William Contreras.
And another free pass to Carlos Santana.
Credit where it would be due, as Jackson pitched out of the bases-loaded, no-out jam he pitched himself into in the fourth, allowing only Yelich to score on a double-play grounder from Mark Canha, but the fifth inning would not be as kind.
It took another pair of walks, a triple into the triangle in left-center field, a swinging bunt, and a perfectly placed bloop into the outfield, but the result will read the same.
"Yeah, I was pretty synched up the first three innings," Jackson said. "Got into the fourth, walked Yelich. Just kind of got out of sync a little bit. I wasn’t able to get back in there. ... Mentally, I felt pretty sharp today. Stuff felt good. But the physical and the execution wasn’t maybe synced up. Lower half, upper half, whatever. Nothing to look too deep into. Just one of those games where kind of when it rained, it poured. Couple bloops here, walks there, the triple. It was just kind of one of those days."
The seventh run came off of reliever Thomas Hatch on a scorecard square-dirtying play. Canha lined a single to Josh Palacios in left field, and Palacios bobbled the incoming grounder, allowing for an additional run to score on the play.
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) September 6, 2023
That inning also included a double off of the wall in straight-away center field off the bat of Santana, which Jack Suwinski lost in the lights.
"Yeah, I mean, I think the first two hits he gave up were soft-contact hits, swinging bunt down the line and then the jam-shot by (Tyrone) Taylor. And then we lost the ball in the lights and sometimes that happens," Shelton said. "But overall, we just have to stay away from the walks."
Brandon Woodruff, meanwhile, was near the top of his game for the Brewers. The two-time All-Star limited the Pirates to a pair of singles and a pair of walks in seven shutout innings. No Pirates baserunner reached second base off of Woodruff in four chances.
"I think early on, the sinker was good. He was using it to both sides of the plate," Shelton said of Woodruff. "And then as we got through about the second or third, the off-speed stuff was pretty effective."
The Pirates offense's dull showing -- which is exacerbated by Ben Cherington and Shelton saying before Tuesday's game they have seen improvements from the work Andy Haines has done as a hitting coach -- was salvaged in the ninth inning by a three-run home run from Connor Joe with nobody out to bring in Bryan Reynolds and Ke'Bryan Hayes.
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) September 6, 2023
In his major-league debut, reliever Hunter Stratton pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning and concluded it with striking out Taylor on three pitches. He came back to retire the Brewers in order in the ninth. He said he is going to give his first career strikeout ball to his dad.
"What a blessing. Words can’t describe it. It’s a dream come true. I’m at a loss for words," Stratton said, fighting off tears. "... The eighth sped up on me. I just breathed and let the rest take care of itself.”
JUSTIN K. ALLER / GETTY
Andre Jackson pitches in the first inning Tuesday night at PNC Park.
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THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: RF Henry Davis (thumb)
• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), INF Tucupita Marcano (knee), LHP Angel Perdomo (elbow), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ji hwan Bae, 2B
2. Bryan Reynolds, DH
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Connor Joe, 1B
5. Jack Suwinski, CF
6. Endy Rodriguez, C
7. Liover Peguero, SS
8. Josh Palacios, LF
9. Miguel Andujar, RF
And for Craig Counsell's Crew:
1. Christian Yelich, LF
2. WIlliam Contreras, C
3. Carlos Santana, 1B
4. Mark Canha, DH
5. Willy Adames, SS
6. Sal Frelick, CF
7. Andruw Monasterio, 3B
8. Brice Turang, 2B
9. Tyrone Taylor, RF
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates will trot right-hander Colin Selby (2-0, 5.79 ERA) to the mound for Wednesday's series finale against the Brewers and right-hander Freddy Peralta (11-8, 3.85) at 12:35 p.m. at PNC Park. A weekend trip to Atlanta for a series against the Braves begins Friday. Alex Stumpf will have those covered.
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