Pittsburgh Pirates Get a Case of the Whiffs, Drop Opening Series After Break
By Matt Shetler
Things haven’t gone exactly as planned for the Pittsburgh Pirates after the All-Star Break.
Despite scoring 13 runs in splitting the first two games in Milwaukee, the Pirates struck out a combined 27 times as a team. That problem continued during Sunday’s 4-1 loss, as Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo struck out a career-high 14 batters as the Pirates struck out 17 times as a team in defeat.
A.J. Burnett started for the Bucs and lasted seven innings, striking out seven of his own, but a four run sixth inning ultimately doomed the Bucs.
All the Pittsburgh offense came on an Andrew McCutchen blast in in the fourth, his 21st dinger of the season. The Bucs had only five hits on the afternoon, three off the bat of McCutchen, who raised his National League leading batting average to .371.
Burnett was able to strand seven runners in scoring position through the first five innings, but had no such luck in the sixth when the Bucs forgot how to play fundamental baseball.
After singles from Nyjer Morgan and Ryan Braun, right fielder Garrett Jones chucked a throw that missed the cutoff man by a mile, allowing Morgan to score and Braun to get to third.
Braun came home one batter later when Aramis Ramirez singled up the middle, and made it 3-1 when Rickie Weeks hit a sharp bouncer that eluded Pedro Alvarez at third base and bounded into the corner for another error (later changed to a hit). Weeks scored when Martin Maldonado doubled down the right-field line, making it 4-1.
Between the alarming amount of strikeouts and a pair of bad plays in the field, the Pirates fell to a half game back in the National League Central for the moment as the Cincinnati Reds play later Sunday night.
Notes: The loss snapped a personal nine-game win streak for Burnett….Pirates second baseman Neil Walker extended his hit streak to 15-games with a single in the first…. McCutchen has homered in four straight games. Only three other Pirates have done that in the last 25 years: Jason Bay (6, 2006), Jose Castillo (5, 2006), Garrett Jones (4, 2009).
Winning Pitcher: Yovani Gallardo (8-6)
Losing Pitcher: A.J. Burnett (10-3)
Save: John Axford (16)
MVP: Gallardo: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 14 K, 0 BB
LVP: Garrett Jones: 0-for-4, 3 K, costly throwing error
Play of the Game: Jones’ throwing error, which allowed a run to score an put the Bucs in a bad spot
Home Runs: McCutchen (21)
Up Next: Monday, July 16 at Colorado, at 8:40 p.m. EDT
Probable Starters: Jeff Karstens (2-2, 3.94 ERA) vs. Jeff Francis (2-2, 5.19)