Bullpen blows lead in 8th as Pirates get swept by Brewers for 6th consecutive loss
TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.
The Pittsburgh Pirates blew an eighth-inning lead against the Milwaukee Brewers and succumbed to a second consecutive sweep to complete a rocky road trip that saw them slip to third place in the NL Central.
The Brewers rallied for four runs in the eighth, tying the score on a William Contreras single and taking the lead on Raimel Tapia’s sacrifice fly for a 5-2 win Sunday afternoon at American Family Field.
After being swept in a three-game series at the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee (37-34), the Pirates (34-36) have lost six consecutive games and are four games behind the Brewers in the division standings.
“We have to execute,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “We did not execute offensively in this series. We have to be better. We were not good in this series. We have to figure out a way to be better.”
The Pirates return Monday to PNC Park for a three-game series against the Cubs, hoping their promotion of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, catcher Henry Davis, will be a salve to their wounds. Shelton said the Pirates will keep both Austin Hedges and Jason Delay, so Davis could see time in right field or as a designated hitter.
Despite getting off to a solid start, the Pirates bullpen blew a lead for the fourth time on the six-game road trip when Angel Perdomo was tagged for one run and Dauri Moreta three in the eighth inning. Moreta (3-2) took the loss.
Carlos Santana started the second inning with a double that went off the tip of left fielder Christian Yelich’s glove, Tucupita Marcano drew a one-out walk and Rodolfo Castro a two-out walk to load the bases. But Freddy Peralta got Delay looking at a full-count fastball on the outside corner to escape without any damage.
The Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Ji Hwan Bae drew a leadoff walk in the third, and his threat to steal second base proved to be a distraction for Peralta. Reynolds drove Peralta’s eighth pitch, a full-count fastball, 415 feet to right for his eighth home run.
Shelton was at loss for explanation as to how the Pirates finished with four hits Sunday and only 14 in the three-game series at Milwaukee.
“I don’t know. We’ve got to get something clicking,” Shelton said. “Right now, we do not have consistent at-bats — with the exception of maybe Santana and Reynolds. We’ve got a bunch of young guys, and we need to figure it out.
“It’s not a lack of patience. If you look at what we’re doing in the month of June, we’re walking. We’re not slugging. We’re not driving the ball in the gap and getting big hits when we have to.”
The Brewers did just that. Contreras led off the fourth with a low line drive to right field, where Josh Palacios tried to make a sliding catch but saw the ball skip past him for a triple.
Pirates starter Luis Ortiz recovered by getting Owen Miller to fly out to shallow center, striking out Tapia and getting Luis Urias to ground out to second to strand Contreras at third.
Where Peralta retired the final 12 batters he faced and allowed two runs on two hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in six innings, Ortiz gave up one run on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings while clinging to a one-run lead.
“It doesn’t put any pressure on me,” Ortiz said through interpreter Stephen Morales. “I’ve got to continue to make pitches and give my best effort out there.”
Yelich hit another double in the fifth and scored on Jesse Winker’s single to left to cut it it 2-1. After getting Willy Adames to ground into a forceout, Ortiz was replaced by rookie right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, who got Rowdy Tellez to fly out for the final out.
Perdomo retired the side in the seventh, but after walking Jesse Winker to start the eighth, was pulled in favor of Moreta. Adames worked an eight-pitch walk, and Contreras lined a one-out single to right to score pinch runner Andruw Monasterio to tie the score at 2-2.
After Perdomo walked Miller to load the bases, the Pirates turned to All-Star closer David Bednar. Tapia hit a deep fly to center that Bae caught before crashing into the wall, and the sacrifice fly scored Adames to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead. Bae alerty flipped the ball to Jack Suwinski, whose relay throw prevented another run from scoring.
But Urias followed with a two-run single to left to score Contreras and Miller to give the Brewers a three-run lead before getting caught in a rundown at second.
Brewers closer Devin Williams struck out Santana and Connor Joe and got Marcano to fly out to left to clinch his 12th save and the series sweep.
“With the pitching, we’ve got to throw the ball on the plate,” Shelton said. “We did not throw the ball on the plate in the eighth inning, and that’s what ended up coming back to bite us. When we have multiple walks in a leverage inning, runs are going to score. That’s what we saw.”
Source: TribLIVE
