Tim Benz: Challenge gets tougher for Pirates in Game 2 with Rays
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It was a bad night for the Pittsburgh Pirates to endure a few bad breaks.
A lot has gone right for manager Derek Shelton’s team in 2023. But that wasn’t the case Tuesday in Tampa Bay.
The Pirates lost Game 1 of their much anticipated three-game showdown against the American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays. The final score was 4-1. The victory improves Tampa’s record to 24-6. That’s the best record in Major League Baseball. With the loss, the Pirates are 20-10, tied with the Atlanta Braves for the best mark in the National League.
During the series-opening defeat, the Pirates were victims of a few missed calls by the umpiring crew, a misplayed fly ball that was lost against the backdrop of the Tropicana Field roof and some timely defense by the Rays.
Not to mention a well-executed double-steal by their opponents.
Franco Wandered over to second, so Siri went ahead and stole home pic.twitter.com/6ONTHpZ0Pj
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 3 2023,
After the game, though, Shelton pointed out the biggest issue facing the Pirates all night.
“There’s not a lot of room for error. We left 11 guys on base. We didn’t execute with runners in scoring position. You can’t do that if that’s the case,” Shelton said after the loss.
The Pirates also failed to get a balk call in their favor with a runner on third base in the sixth inning. But Shelton’s right. The Pirates went 0-10 with runners in scoring position. That’s what sunk the Bucs on Tuesday. A night that featured seven Rays pitchers combining to give up just one run.
“You don’t get into a groove with the (opposing) starting pitcher,” Pirates catcher Austin Hedges said of Tampa’s bullpen approach to the game. “Their bullpen is filled with nasty guys. When you are facing seven different dudes — it’s not just any seven. They’ve got a really good ‘pen out there. It’s seven nasty arms.”
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The biggest problem for the Pirates now is the one nasty arm they’ll be facing Wednesday night. It’s one of the best in the league. And it belongs to Rays starter Shane McClanahan.
So far this season, the lefty is 5-0 with an ERA of 2.12. His 42 strikeouts are tied for seventh in the American League with Chicago White Sox starter Lance Lynn, 12 off the pace set by AL leader Kevin Gausman (Toronto Blue Jays).
Two starts ago, McClanahan racked up 10 strikeouts during a six-inning, no-decision against the Chicago White Sox. As pointed out by Pirates analyst Michael McKenry on the AT&T SporstNet postgame show, of his 88 pitches that day, 32 were swing-and-miss strikes.
“It’s a 97 mile-per-hour fastball. Up to 100,” McKenry said. “This guy will throw a changeup off of it at 87. One plays up, away from the right-handed batter. One plays down and away from the right-handed batter. He’ll mix in a plus breaking ball, a nasty slider. His fastball usage is up this year. It’s making everything play a little bit better.”
At least the Pirates are countering with Mitch Keller. He has compiled five straight quality starts and is 3-0 with an ERA of 3.53. Keller’s 40 strikeouts are ninth in the National League. In his last start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Keller picked up the win, striking out 10 over six innings while walking only one batter.
But the biggest issue for the Pirates will likely be in the batter’s box against McClanahan. His career WHIP is 1.08. The Pirates are unlikely to get as many chances as they did Tuesday. And when they do get them, they have to cash in at a much higher rate.
Regardless of any misfortune that comes via the umpires.
“That didn’t change the outcome of the game,” Shelton said of the disputed balk call. “The fact that we didn’t get runners in changed the outcome of the game.”
McClanahan isn’t the type of pitcher who needs much help from the umpires anyway.