Bucs Use Same Bad Bat, Bad Glove Formula In 3-1 Loss To LA; Injury Updates

It looked like vintage Clayton Kershaw; he K'ed two of the first three Buccos. Big Joe bopped the leadoff hitter with a backfoot slider then settled in. It was 1-2-3 for Pittsburgh in the second; Big Blue got a one-out walk, cleaned up quickly by a 6-4-3 DP. The Pirates drew first blood in the third on a Pablo Reyes single, bunt, and Fraze's two-out RBI knock. Melky legged out another single before the fun ended. Joe tossed a six-pitch frame. Kershaw was back on his game in the fourth with two more whiffs while Musgrove gave a leadoff knock; with two outs, a roller up the middle that both Fraze and Cotuck could have played became a single when no one took charge (tho the runner was originally rung up, he was clearly safe and a challenge confirmed it). They will next time, as Big Joe momentarily looked about ready to rudely introduce them to one another before he coaxed the third out. The Pirates made no noise in the fifth, losing a challenge of a safe call at first; the umps are trying to help but the camera don't lie. It was a clean frame for Big Joe, aided by a nifty play by JHK off a ball Joe deflected for a 1-5-3 putout, with the out confirmed after another Dodger challenge. There was no Bucco action in the sixth; ditto for Big Blue.

Big Joe had no help tonight (Pirates image)

With two away in the seventh, Bryan Reynolds doubled to break Kershaw's streak of 12-in-a-row retired Bucs, but Pablo's bouncer left him aboard. LA led off with an infield rap and a ground ball single to right left Dodgers on the corners (the Bucs caught a break when the ball hit the ump, saving it from going into the corner). A sac fly led to a jarring plate collision and safe call that the Pirates challenged unsuccessfully. The runner went to second on the throw, and another infield single off a throw that J-Bell couldn't handle left Dodgers on the corners again. Joe got a big K, but Joc Pederson took the next pitch to right center for a three-bagger, and the Pirates were down 3-1 before Frankie Liriano came in to get a final whiff. Caleb Ferguson took over for Clayton. Walks to Cotuck & Fraze, sandwiched around a Gregory rap, loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth. Pedro Baez was waved on and got Melky on a pop fly. Redbeard grabbed a stick and popped out on an infield fly, with both outs off a changeup. J-Bell didn't see a strike but still went down swinging. *sigh* Kyle Crick took the ball and yielded a walk/stolen base but kept the score the same. Kenley Jansen had a battle with JB Shuck but still spun a clean inning to close it out.

Josh has cooled off (2019 Topps)

Can't hit in the clutch, can't make plays in the field; it's pretty much been the same story for the past week or so. The team was running on the J-Bell/Redbeard express, but during this stretch, Bell is 8-of-38 (.210 with 13 K) and Moran is 4-of-22 (.182). Cervy is batting .175 and JHK is hitting .169 on the season. Kinda hard to mount much of attack with those numbers, although facing Ryu and Kershaw back-to-back would silence a lot of teams. As for the gloves, half the issues are attributable to miscommunication. The mix and match leads to some of those issues, but you have to learn the drill sooner or later. Clint's teams have always been strong in spirit, but not so much fundamentally, though a stable lineup would help. Nine different guys have played the outfield and seven the middle infield through 25 games. Injuries are the reason for that, but not an excuse for not being coached up.

Notes:

• The Pirates had five hits, with Fraze the only guy to reach twice on a knock and a walk.
• Bryan Reynolds has hit safely in each of his first six games in the big leagues.
• The Pirates have batted 19 times with the bases loaded and are still looking for their first hit (they do have two walks and a sac fly). During this seven-game losing streak, the Pirates are 5-of-46 w/RISP and scored 12 runs.
• The Pirates did end the Dodger's HR streak.
• Bill Brink of the Post Gazette informed us pregame that there is "More bad injury news for the Pirates. Corey Dickerson felt tightness in shoulder throwing from 110 feet (and) Lonnie Chisenhall had tightness in left calf while rounding a base." Chisenhall has had calf issue for three seasons now (oddly enough, he was rehabbing a broken hand) but there was optimism that Corey (shoulder strain) was nearing a return to action. Both will be examined next week.
• In other injury news, Archie's thumb issue flared up against the Giants and continued against LA; they're giving him a couple or three days with no throwing to see if the inflammation clears up. Starling (abdominal bruise) took BP and shagged flies, so he looks like he's on schedule. Also, C Jake Stallings (neck strain) began his rehab stint at Indy tonight. He hit cleanup and homered twice.