Pirates solve starting pitching problem but still can’t beat Brewers
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Derek Shelton didn’t have an exact answer for what was wrong with the Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitchers, except for expressing his displeasure with getting behind in counts and issuing walks.
After 43 of their opponents’ 97 runs came in the first two innings, the Pirates manager wasn’t willing to wait any longer to find out why his starters were struggling while his relievers were shining.
So Shelton continued to embrace the unorthodox, scratching right-hander Bryse Wilson from his scheduled start and opting instead for lefty Dillon Peters and his 10 1/3 scoreless innings in relief.
For openers, it was the right call, as they combined to match Milwaukee Brewers starter Aaron Ashby by tossing five no-hit innings. The Brewers, however, got to the Pirates’ other starter-turned-reliever in the seventh inning on the way to a 3-1 win Wednesday night before an announced crowd of 8,331 Wednesday night at PNC Park.
“It’s figuring the most effective way to get outs,” Shelton said. “I don’t look at the starter as a ‘starter.’ I don’t look at the guys who pitch in the middle as non starters. I think we’re trying to deploy them in a way that we’re going to put them in the best situations to get outs. I think we did that. I think we put guys in the right situations the entire game.”
Wil Crowe had tossed 13 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed only one hit in 20 at-bats with runners on base, but the right-hander couldn’t protect the lead in a two-run seventh.
Peters said he kept the same routine he uses out of the bullpen, and he started fast by retiring the first six batters he faced on just 16 pitches (13 strikes) before Omar Narvaez drew a leadoff walk in the third. Wilson replaced Peters and kept the hitless streak going through the fifth inning.
“I just happened to be throwing the first pitch of the game,” Peters said. “I was told last night I was going to open and just took the same mindset I’ve been taking, going out there each day, pound the zone, get ahead, use all my pitches.”
Finally, with one out in the top of the sixth, Kolten Wong broke up the no-hitter by driving a double to the right-field corner. Wilson answered by striking out Andrew McCutchen and Willy Adames.
“It’s a huge confidence builder,” Wilson said. “The first two outings were definitely a battle. Last outing wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be, especially controlling the zone. So, for me, it’s a good step going forward in the confidence area, being able to (think), ‘Hey, I can fill up the zone and I can go at my hitters with my stuff.’”
After Diego Castillo drew a leadoff walks in the bottom of the sixth, the Pirates ended Aaron Ashby’s no-hit bid when Bryan Reynolds hit a grounder that deflected off the glove of third baseman Mike Brosseau and past Adames at short.
Castillo scored for a 1-0 Pirates lead when Ke’Bryan Hayes grounded into a double play, thanks to a spectacular stop and flip by Wong to Adames at second base. Shelton called it the turning point, given it prevented the Pirates from stretching their lead.
“It was a huge play in the game,” Shelton said. “That’s why they’ve handed him multiple Gold Gloves over the course of the last four or five years. He’s really good, and Willy’s really good at short and they made a hell of a play. I don’t think you’re going to see that play made in too many places.”
Ashby allowed only one hit but gave up five walks while striking out six in 5 2/3 innings. The Brewers got four-plus hitless innings from Trevor Gott (1-0), Brad Boxberger, Devin Williams and Josh Hader.
The Brewers rallied against Crowe (1-1), who gave up back-to-back singles to Christian Yelich and Hunter Renfroe before Rowdy Tellez hit a grounder that rolled under the glove of Yoshi Tsutsugo at first base for an error, scoring Yelich to tie the game at 1-1. Tyrone Taylor singled to left that scored Renfroe for a 2-1 Brewers lead.
Shelton wondered if Tsutsugo didn’t see the ball.
“It looked like it was hit pretty close to him,” Shelton said. “I didn’t ask him, but it looked like he didn’t react to it.”
Chase De Jong cruised through the eighth and got Renfroe to pop up to third to start the ninth but was replaced by Sam Howard, who hit Tellez with a pitch and then walked Narvaez and Brosseau to load the bases. Howard then walked Wong on five pitches for a 3-1 Brewers lead. Howard finally escaped by striking out McCutchen.
Hader walked Hayes and Chavis to bring the winning run to the plate with one out, then struck out Tsutsugo and Perez to end the game and earn his 10th save, one that spoiled the Pirates’ pitching strategy.
“It worked,” Shelton said. “We got all the situations we wanted. We just didn’t win the game.”