Pirates Look Lost in 11 Inning, 2-1 Loss to Cubbies

The Bucs drew first blood when with one gone, Kevin Newman sent a Jon Lester cutter that stayed over the plate over the wall in left center. Jose Osuna walked and an out later Phil Evans singled, but no further runs were to be had. Steve Brault spun a clean frame with a pair of whiffs. Jake Stallings singled in the second while Steven spun another three up, three down inning. Newman opened the third with a rap but was erased on a 6-3 Redbeard DP. Brault finished with another flawless frame, with four K in three frames. No Bucco noise in the fourth, and Chad Kuhl kinda surprisingly came on although Steven was at just 35 pitches. No diff; he retired the side in order. Pittsburgh made not a peep in the fifth, and their gloves let them down in the back half. Wilson Contreras stretched a single into a double when Fraze missed the tag on a good toss by Phil Evans and then scored a batter later when Jake Stallings had the throw from Tuck pop out of his glove while tagging Contreras. A walk with an out left Cubbies at first and second and the Buccos with a new pitcher as Chad left with an apparent hand injury; he had been checking his paw off-and-on during his whole outing. Geoff Hartlieb took over and shut the door.

Steven was sharp in his outing - photo 2019 Dave Arrigo/Pirates

The Bucs were gifted an error in the sixth, not that it helped. Dovy Neverauskas got the ball and held the Cubbos to a single. Ol' Bucco Casey Sadler took the hill and tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning; Nik Turley did the same for the Pirates. Pittsburgh managed a Fraze single and two-out Joey O walk off Casey in the eighth, bringing in Dan Winkler to face Captain Redbeard, who swung through three cutters. Richard Rodriguez toed the slab and surrendered a walk but nada else. Evans walked to lead off the ninth, was replaced by Jarrod Dyson, and he was bunted up. Bryan Reynolds pinch hit for Guillermo Heredia and fanned on four pitches. Dyson moved up 90' on a balk but died at third when Jake bounced out. Then the rain came. Nick Burdi was warmed up and ready to roll at that point, but with the delay, Shelty sent out Sam Howard instead. He did a fine job, just giving up a two-out walk. 

Rick Tepera was waved in for the 10th. Jake Stallings was the free runner and J-Bell hit for Erik Gonzo. He singled, but Stallings was tossed out trying to score, with nobody out; blame that on Joey Cora. The Bucs challenged per the Posey Rule (or maybe social distancing; it's all so confusing any more), but that's pretty much an exercise in frustration. End result: another zero. Sam walked the first batter, then the guy on second stole third (it was pretty easy as no one covered the bag). Howard fanned the next pair of Baby Bruins and got an 0-2 pop up to escape. Jeremy Jeffress draw 11th inning duty. Joey O hit one to short; Kevin Newman, the ghost runner, was thrown out going to third. Moran and Dyson both hit balls on the nose; they both were at Cubs. Cody Ponce got on the slab, and an out later it was over when Javy Baez bounced a ball up the middle through a shift.

Sam Howard looked good in his Buc debut - 2020 photo Pirates

Fundamentally, the Pirates were about as baseball savvy as your average lacrosse team. It is and has been an organizational issue and this year hasn't helped matters. But today was pretty bad baseball - missed tags, uncovered bases, baserunning like t-ballers, not getting another inning out of your starter...Cherington, Shelty and company have a big job ahead of them, even beyond personnel. 

Notes:

• Kevin Newman was the only player on either team with two hits.
• The Pirates have started four innings with a free runner; they have yet to score one.
• Chad Kuhl was removed from the game due to an abrasion to the cuticle of the right index finger.
• The extent of Michael Feliz's injury is yet TBD. He'll require an MRI. Mitch Keller was confirmed with an oblique injury, but the severity won't be known for a couple of days.
• The Pirates head to Minnesota after today's game to take on the Twinkies for four games.
• Detroit's Tyler Alexander tied an MLB record by fanning nine straight batters; he was up 0-2 on the record-setting 10th but ending up nicking him to snap the streak.