‘Extremely frustrating’: Miscues, missed opportunities plague Pirates
PITTSBURGH — In back-to-back half innings, the Pirates and Rockies discovered themselves in similar conditions. Game tied. Bases loaded. No outs. One staff didn’t execute. The different staff did. On Wednesday afternoon, that was all of the distinction.
The Pirates closed out a forgettable homestand with a frustration-inducing 4-3 loss to the Rockies at PNC Park. As has been the case over the past week-and-a-half, this loss was outlined by miscues and missed alternatives.
“You have to go out there and play hard,” mentioned Tucupita Marcano, who hit his first house run of the season, by means of staff interpreter Stephen Morales. “Do the little things. The sun’s gonna come up tomorrow again. Just go out there and play hard again and try for tomorrow again.”
Manager Derek Shelton has repeatedly talked about that the Pirates have been looking for their one massive swing, their one massive hit to revitalize the offense. In the sixth, that they had their greatest alternative of the collection, loading the bases with no outs.
Bryan Reynolds drew a leadoff stroll; Andrew McCutchen, who hit a two-run homer within the third inning, singled; Carlos Santana drew a stroll to load the bases. Reynolds, McCutchen and Santana set the desk for Connor Joe, the previous Rockie who had a possibility to erase a pair of lowlights.
Joe entered this momentous plate look having drawn two walks already, however he had been caught stealing on each of his makes an attempt to swipe second base. Shelton mentioned postgame that a kind of caught stealing makes an attempt was attributable to a miscommunication, however the caught stealing counts all the identical. Joe labored a 3-2 depend towards the Rockies’ Daniel Bard, however struck out trying on a perfectly-placed exterior sinker.
Still, the Pirates had an opportunity to plate the go-ahead run. Rockies supervisor Bud Black changed Bard with left-hander Brad Hand to face Jack Suwinski, however Shelton countered by pulling Suwinski for Rodolfo Castro, a switch-hitter who’s considerably higher from the suitable facet.
Castro lifted the ball to middle discipline. Colorado outfielder Brenton Doyle tracked down Castro’s fly ball and unfurled a 98.1 mph throw. Reynolds broke house regardless of third base coach Mike Rabelo holding up the cease signal. Doyle’s throw beat Reynolds to the plate in loads of time. Catcher Austin Wynns utilized the tag on Reynolds and the inning ended. Shelton challenged the decision for a possible blocking of the plate, however the name was confirmed.
“Number one, he made a throw in a big situation and, number two, Wynns did a good job staying in front of the base so there was no violation and stepping back to make a catch and a tag,” Shelton mentioned. “Bang-bang play that just didn’t go our way.”
In the following half-inning, the Rockies had been in the very same scenario, loading the bases towards right-hander Robert Stephenson with no outs. Unlike the Pirates, the Rockies didn’t depart the inning empty-handed as Jurickson Profar drove within the go-ahead run with a single. The Rockies ended up with simply the one run, however it proved to be all they wanted.
“It’s extremely frustrating,” Shelton mentioned. “Bases loaded, nobody out, we don’t execute.”
The missed alternative within the sixth wasn’t the one time that the Pirates’ lack of execution affected the complexity of the sport.
In the fourth inning, with the Pirates main by two runs, Rich Hill induced a weakly-hit comebacker that ought to have ended the inning, however the veteran southpaw fumbled the routine grounder, permitting the body to roll alongside. Following the error, the Rockies would tie the sport with back-to-back RBI singles from Wynns and Alan Trejo. Hill wouldn’t make it out of the inning, pulled by Shelton with two outs within the body.
“I missed it. I just missed it,” Hill mentioned. “That shouldn’t happen here. It cost us the game. Once again, it falls on me. Gonna sit on this one for the next five days and get ready for the next one. Frustration is definitely there with that. Very easy ground ball. I should have been able to execute it and didn’t.”
Per week-and-a-half in the past, the Pirates had been 12 video games over .500. Now, they’re right down to 4. Following an off-day on Thursday, they’ll tackle the Orioles, one in every of a number of AL East powerhouses which might be taking part in glorious ball.
The Pirates are looking for solutions. Time will inform in the event that they discover them in Baltimore.
