Jared Jones Roughed Up in Pirates’ Sloppy Loss to Tigers

Jared Jones and the Pittsburgh Pirates had a forgettable afternoon in the front-end of a doubleheader on Wednesday in Detroit.

Jones (3-5) had his worst outing as a big-leaguer and the Pirates (25-30) looked lackadaisical in an 8-0 loss to the Tigers (27-27).

Entering play, Jones had not allowed more than three runs in a start to begin his career but the Tigers scored seven times, five of which were earned, against him.

Wenceel Pérez opened the first with a triple and scored on a Matt Vierling single before Matt Canha plated a run with a sac fly two batters later. Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes committed an error – one of three in the game for the Pirates – which opened the door to Riley Greene scoring on a fielder’s choice.

In the fifth inning, Vierling doubled the Tigers’ lead with a three-run home run to left field. Greene followed the homer with a double which knocked Jones out of the game. Greene scored on a Gio Urshela single off of reliever Luis Ortiz.

Jones was only able to go 4.1 innings and allowed five hits while walking two and striking out a pair.

Jake Rogers singled home the Tigers’ eighth run of the game in the bottom of the sixth.

The Pirates’ offense was stifled by left-hander Tarik Skubal, who improved to 7-1 after throwing seven-shutout innings. Skubal held the Pirates to just three hits while walking one and striking out eight. 

Grant Koch made his MLB debut in the to of the ninth inning as a pinch hitter and struck out after a 10-pitch at-bat.

Up Next

It will be up to Paul Skenes (1-0, 2.25 ERA) as the Pirates look to split their doubleheader with the Tigers. Right-hander Keider Montero will make his MLB debut for Detroit.