Pirates once again throw away grand slam, strong start in loss to Giants

Less than 24 hours after seeing a five-run lead slip away in a disheartening four-run defeat, the Pirates let another significant advantage go to waste in the eighth inning of a 7-6 loss to the Giants at PNC Park Thursday afternoon.

Pirates relievers Hunter Stratton and Aroldis Chapman combined to allow five runs on six hits to relinquish a 6-2 lead and spoil a three-homer output by the offense as well as a quality start from rookie phenom Paul Skenes. 

"Frustrating. Very frustrating," Derek Shelton said. "We have to finish games like that."

The Giants' eighth-inning outburst was highlighted by a massive three-run home run by Matt Chapman and RBI singles by Wilmer Flores and Brett Wisely. They batted through their order in the inning and at one point collected five straight hits off Stratton, who was charged with all five runs, giving him three outings this season with four or more runs allowed. 

Stratton's struggles followed a seventh in which the Giants cut their lead to four on a solo homer by Heliot Ramos. He hit it off left-hander Jose Hernandez, who was recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis before the game. 

"Our bullpen's got to be better," Shelton said. "We had, what? A 5-1 lead yesterday, 6-2 lead today? We have to be better. Our bullpen has to be better. We have to win games like that." 

It was a continuation of problems the bullpen experienced on Wednesday when Chapman, Colin Holderman and Carmen Mlodzinski combined to allow six late runs to overshadow a Bryan Reynolds grand slam and another solid outing from Jared Jones.

On this day, the bullpen's woeful performance was useless in maintaining a lead built on a fourth-inning grand slam from Joey Bart, a leadoff blast in the first from Andrew McCutchen and a solo shot from Reynolds in the seventh.

"Too many fastballs in the middle of the plate," Shelton said. "I mean, that's the commonality with our bullpen right now, too many fastballs in the middle of the plate. Can't do it. We tried to go up to (Matt) Chapman yesterday and he hit the homer. We tried to go up again today and he hit the homer."

Bart, who was designated for assignment by the Giants on March 31 before being traded to the Pirates two days later, contributed with a 2-for-4 showing against his former team. He doubled in the sixth and broke open a tie game with his first career slam on a 1-0 fastball at the bottom of the zone from Mason Black:

"Nice to square a pitch up like that, put in all the work," Bart said. "You dream for swings and situations like that. So, it was pretty cool." 

McCutchen, who added two hits of his own, delivered a home run on the second pitch he saw from Giants opener Erik Miller. He sent a 95 mph fastball out in left-center for his third leadoff homer this season and the 25th of his career: 

A day after hitting his slam against Giants reliever Sean Hjelle, Reynolds was at it again with a team-high three hits, including his seventh homer of the year off Luke Jackson: 

"It goes back to being really frustrating. We're starting to get better at-bats. We had some opportunities we didn't capitalize on but we kept going," Shelton said. "Bryan hit the homer to make it a four-run game and a bullpen that's pretty depleted anyway, so it gives us a little cushion and then we can't hold the lead. Our bullpen's gotta be better."

The homers helped provide some support for Skenes, who allowed one run on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts in a six-inning effort that produced the rotation's 25th quality start of the season. It was Skenes' second quality start in three major-league outings. 

"I thought he did a good job. He had to grind through the sixth a little bit. I think he only had three punchouts so that shows you how tough of a lineup (the Giants have)," Shelton said. "He's had two really tough lineups in the Cubs and the Giants that make you throw strikes. They make you put the ball on the plate. They put the ball in play and I thought he pitched really well."

While Skenes admitted he lacked command of his breaking pitches, he still had his fastball and splinker working for him: 

"Yeah, it's just different. It's a different pitch," Bart said of the splitter-sinker hybrid. "I've never heard of it, never seen it, I didn't even know what it was when he threw it at me, to be honest with you. But, it's good. It's hard and it's off the barrel."

The Pirates concluded their three-game series with the Giants with back-to-back losses in which they relinquished sizable advantages. Those defeats followed a similar game in which they were on the winning end. 

Now, they'll attempt to turn their focus towards another three-game set against the Braves at PNC Park.