Bubba Chandler pitched well enough for the Pirates to win in their 6-2 loss to the Blue Jays here in Toronto on Friday.
He threw five innings, allowing only two hits, striking out a career-high 11 batters, and recording just one earned run. He was efficient, throwing 63 of 99 pitches for strikes.
"I thought that was one of the best, if not the best, start he’s had," Don Kelly would say of Chandler's performance afterward. It certainly was an improvement from his previous start, a May 16 loss to the Phillies in which he lasted just three innings, allowing three hits, four earned runs, and just two strikeouts in an eventual 6-0 loss. He needed to bounce back in this start, and he did.
But all the while, defensive miscues kept the Pirates from limiting runs and prevented Chandler from pitching deeper into the game and wasted his stellar start.
The mistakes came to a head in the third inning, with the Pirates having a 1-0 lead. George Springer reached when Endy Rodriguez interfered with his bat in a 1-2 plate appearance. Then, Spencer Horwitz took a Daulton Varsho grounder and overthrew third base, allowing Springer to score to tie the game, while Varsho advanced to second and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to third. Yohendrick Pinango's double allowed Varsho and Guerrero Jr. to score, putting the Pirates in a 3-1 hole that they couldn't come out of.
Kelly called Horwitz's errant throw a "blip on the radar."
"I think the ball was probably hit a little harder than maybe he thought it was," Kelly said. "I think maybe we would have had a chance for a double play and go to two. Any time the ball’s hit, we need to make sure that we’re getting one out. He’s been so good for us at first base. He’s really playing at a Gold Glove level over there."
Chandler was in no mood to talk about his good performance afterward, beyond calling it "pretty cool" with a shrug. Despite the errors in front of him, he still blamed himself, saying "the game was in my hands and I let it slip away."
"Three runs tonight or whatever," he said. "Who cares? If I make better pitches and execute better, we don't have the catcher's interference. I missed my spot, Endy had to reach down and go get the ball. If I hit my spot, it's a strikeout. That ball that got hit to first, missed my spot. Throw it where I'm supposed to, it's probably a strikeout. And then the double down the line, missed my spot again. Probably a strikeout or strike two, whatever it is if I hit my spot and execute."
Kelly's takeaway was how Chandler handled that adversity.
"To have that inning, we didn’t play really good defense," Kelly said. "Had the catcher’s interference, the error. It could have gotten completely off the rails. But for him to settle down, get as many strikeouts and whiffs as he had, I thought he did a really good job."
The Pirates' mistakes overshadowed what should have been the headline in this one, perhaps one of Chandler's best starts of his career so far. Still, it was a step forward for him.
"You want to win every game, but that's not realistic," Chandler said. "If you just put your team in a spot to have a chance in the end, you did your job for the most part. Each outing's just learning and just letting stuff go."
THE ASYLUM
Chandler's rebound ruined by errant defense
Bubba Chandler pitched well enough for the Pirates to win in their 6-2 loss to the Blue Jays here in Toronto on Friday.
He threw five innings, allowing only two hits, striking out a career-high 11 batters, and recording just one earned run. He was efficient, throwing 63 of 99 pitches for strikes.
"I thought that was one of the best, if not the best, start he’s had," Don Kelly would say of Chandler's performance afterward. It certainly was an improvement from his previous start, a May 16 loss to the Phillies in which he lasted just three innings, allowing three hits, four earned runs, and just two strikeouts in an eventual 6-0 loss. He needed to bounce back in this start, and he did.
But all the while, defensive miscues kept the Pirates from limiting runs and prevented Chandler from pitching deeper into the game and wasted his stellar start.
The mistakes came to a head in the third inning, with the Pirates having a 1-0 lead. George Springer reached when Endy Rodriguez interfered with his bat in a 1-2 plate appearance. Then, Spencer Horwitz took a Daulton Varsho grounder and overthrew third base, allowing Springer to score to tie the game, while Varsho advanced to second and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to third. Yohendrick Pinango's double allowed Varsho and Guerrero Jr. to score, putting the Pirates in a 3-1 hole that they couldn't come out of.
Kelly called Horwitz's errant throw a "blip on the radar."
"I think the ball was probably hit a little harder than maybe he thought it was," Kelly said. "I think maybe we would have had a chance for a double play and go to two. Any time the ball’s hit, we need to make sure that we’re getting one out. He’s been so good for us at first base. He’s really playing at a Gold Glove level over there."
Chandler was in no mood to talk about his good performance afterward, beyond calling it "pretty cool" with a shrug. Despite the errors in front of him, he still blamed himself, saying "the game was in my hands and I let it slip away."
"Three runs tonight or whatever," he said. "Who cares? If I make better pitches and execute better, we don't have the catcher's interference. I missed my spot, Endy had to reach down and go get the ball. If I hit my spot, it's a strikeout. That ball that got hit to first, missed my spot. Throw it where I'm supposed to, it's probably a strikeout. And then the double down the line, missed my spot again. Probably a strikeout or strike two, whatever it is if I hit my spot and execute."
Kelly's takeaway was how Chandler handled that adversity.
"To have that inning, we didn’t play really good defense," Kelly said. "Had the catcher’s interference, the error. It could have gotten completely off the rails. But for him to settle down, get as many strikeouts and whiffs as he had, I thought he did a really good job."
The Pirates' mistakes overshadowed what should have been the headline in this one, perhaps one of Chandler's best starts of his career so far. Still, it was a step forward for him.
"You want to win every game, but that's not realistic," Chandler said. "If you just put your team in a spot to have a chance in the end, you did your job for the most part. Each outing's just learning and just letting stuff go."
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