For the third time in five starts, Andrew Heaney allowed seven earned runs and seven or more hits over four innings as he lost for the ninth time this season today to the White Sox.
"I'm throwing 88-mph fastballs, (crappy) breaking balls," Heaney said. "And when you fall behind, you don't have much to get guys out with. I guess narrow margin of error. I've got to go make better pitches."
The season started well, as he allowed 18 earned runs and five home runs in 10 starts. Since then, he's given up 39 earned runs and 14 home runs in nine starts and one relief appearance.
"They jumped on the fastball," Don Kelly said. "He wasn't able to get ahead of some guys in the first inning and they jumped on the fastball and drove it to the gaps and got the home runs."
The speed on most of Heaney's pitches were down compared to his season averages:
Of the pitching staff of late, which has been hit hard for the first time all summer, Kelly said, "They've been so good all year. I think that these three games, you know, were not ideal by any means. It's not time to panic on the pitching staff."
The Pirates' 4.94 ERA is ranked 23rd in 14 games this month, and that's with Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller continuing to excel.
THE ASYLUM
For the third time in five starts, Andrew Heaney allowed seven earned runs and seven or more hits over four innings as he lost for the ninth time this season today to the White Sox.
"I'm throwing 88-mph fastballs, (crappy) breaking balls," Heaney said. "And when you fall behind, you don't have much to get guys out with. I guess narrow margin of error. I've got to go make better pitches."
The season started well, as he allowed 18 earned runs and five home runs in 10 starts. Since then, he's given up 39 earned runs and 14 home runs in nine starts and one relief appearance.
"They jumped on the fastball," Don Kelly said. "He wasn't able to get ahead of some guys in the first inning and they jumped on the fastball and drove it to the gaps and got the home runs."
The speed on most of Heaney's pitches were down compared to his season averages:
• Four-seam fastball: -1.1
• Changeup: -0.9
• Sinker: -2.4
• Slider: -2.1
Of the pitching staff of late, which has been hit hard for the first time all summer, Kelly said, "They've been so good all year. I think that these three games, you know, were not ideal by any means. It's not time to panic on the pitching staff."
The Pirates' 4.94 ERA is ranked 23rd in 14 games this month, and that's with Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller continuing to excel.
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