Wilber Dotel seemed to breeze through his first seven outings as a major-league pitcher, going right after hitters and benefitting from the aggressiveness by limiting opposing teams to two runs over 16 2/3 innings.
He hadn't faced a team quite like the Dodgers, though.
One of Major League Baseball's top offenses bested him for six runs on five hits and a walk in handing the Pirates a decisive 12-3 loss here tonight at PNC Park.
"It looked like command wasn’t sharp as it typically is and it looked like the velo was down at the beginning of that inning," DonKelly said of Dotel, who did experience slight dips in velocity with his fastball, cutter and slider. "I don’t know if that had to do with him or the field, with it being wet. Seemed to tick up a little bit after he got the mound cleaned up. Just didn’t seem like he was as sharp hitting his spots as he normally is.”
In total, the Dodgers scored 10 runs on seven hits, two throwing errors -- one by HenryDavis and the other by BrandonLowe -- and four walks in a nightmare seventh that made the difference in this fourth consecutive loss. After Dotel failed to record an out, BrandanBidois entered and struggled in his own right. He did manage to get two outs, but the visitors still got to him for four runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks.
It was the first time the Dodgers scored 10-plus runs in an inning since scoring 11 runs in an inning on June 2, 2021. The last time the Pirates allowed 10-plus runs in an inning was against the Reds in Cincinnati on July 29, 2019. Prior to that, they allowed 10-plus in an inning against the Diamondbacks in Arizona on April 11, 2010.
"We got sloppy there on a lot of different plays," Kelly said. "Not throwing strikes, the back pick (by Davis), we're trying to make a play to help the pitchers out and get out of the inning and we just need to play cleaner. I think that just as a team, when you're talking about an inning like that, struggling to throw strikes and then compounding it when you don't execute plays. That's not good."
This was another instance in which the bullpen took over a close game and let it spiral out of control. This time, two rookies were on the forefront due to the lack of reliability that exists amongst a number of other arms who could usually be trusted to get outs in what was a tie game entering the seventh.
But instead of supplementing a strong offense and solid starting rotation on a team that was at one point sitting at 34-29 following a stretch in which they won five of six games, the bullpen has been the glaring weakness. The unit currently ranks 19th among all bullpens in MLB in ERA (4.33) and 20th in WHIP (1.36). They've posted the fifth-most strikeouts (271) in baseball, but they've also walked (130) the fifth-most batters, too.
"We've talked about the adversity and resilience," Kelly said. "We need to find a way to regroup, bounce back and play Pirates baseball again."
THE ASYLUM
Another bullpen blow-up
Wilber Dotel seemed to breeze through his first seven outings as a major-league pitcher, going right after hitters and benefitting from the aggressiveness by limiting opposing teams to two runs over 16 2/3 innings.
He hadn't faced a team quite like the Dodgers, though.
One of Major League Baseball's top offenses bested him for six runs on five hits and a walk in handing the Pirates a decisive 12-3 loss here tonight at PNC Park.
"It looked like command wasn’t sharp as it typically is and it looked like the velo was down at the beginning of that inning," Don Kelly said of Dotel, who did experience slight dips in velocity with his fastball, cutter and slider. "I don’t know if that had to do with him or the field, with it being wet. Seemed to tick up a little bit after he got the mound cleaned up. Just didn’t seem like he was as sharp hitting his spots as he normally is.”
In total, the Dodgers scored 10 runs on seven hits, two throwing errors -- one by Henry Davis and the other by Brandon Lowe -- and four walks in a nightmare seventh that made the difference in this fourth consecutive loss. After Dotel failed to record an out, Brandan Bidois entered and struggled in his own right. He did manage to get two outs, but the visitors still got to him for four runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks.
It was the first time the Dodgers scored 10-plus runs in an inning since scoring 11 runs in an inning on June 2, 2021. The last time the Pirates allowed 10-plus runs in an inning was against the Reds in Cincinnati on July 29, 2019. Prior to that, they allowed 10-plus in an inning against the Diamondbacks in Arizona on April 11, 2010.
"We got sloppy there on a lot of different plays," Kelly said. "Not throwing strikes, the back pick (by Davis), we're trying to make a play to help the pitchers out and get out of the inning and we just need to play cleaner. I think that just as a team, when you're talking about an inning like that, struggling to throw strikes and then compounding it when you don't execute plays. That's not good."
This was another instance in which the bullpen took over a close game and let it spiral out of control. This time, two rookies were on the forefront due to the lack of reliability that exists amongst a number of other arms who could usually be trusted to get outs in what was a tie game entering the seventh.
But instead of supplementing a strong offense and solid starting rotation on a team that was at one point sitting at 34-29 following a stretch in which they won five of six games, the bullpen has been the glaring weakness. The unit currently ranks 19th among all bullpens in MLB in ERA (4.33) and 20th in WHIP (1.36). They've posted the fifth-most strikeouts (271) in baseball, but they've also walked (130) the fifth-most batters, too.
"We've talked about the adversity and resilience," Kelly said. "We need to find a way to regroup, bounce back and play Pirates baseball again."
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