Perrotto: Could Pirates’ Lineup Be Any Weaker?
Paul Skenes did factor in the decision in a game he should have won Wednesday night.
Some things never change.
Skenes pitched five scoreless innings and struck out eight. Yet the Pittsburgh Pirates lost to the Orioles 2-1 in 10 innings at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
Skenes has allowed two runs or fewer in 25 of his 30 starts this season, yet his record is 10-5 in those games. The Pirates’ offense has let Skenes down time and again.
With just 16 games remaining in the season, the awfulness of the Pirates’ offense is evident. No small-sample-size excuses now for a team scoring an MLB-leading 3.6 runs a game and leading the league in dullness.
The absurdity of the Pirates’ lineup’s awfulness became apparent in the 10th inning of Wednesday’s game.
The score was tied at 1, and due up for the Pirates were Nick Yorke, Cam Devanney, and Ji Hwan Bae. In the hole was Henry Davis.
Could a major-league team have a weaker foursome ready to bat in an extra-inning game? It isn’t very likely.
Manager Don Kelly had a better chance of hitting the Lotto than squeezing a run out of that group.
Yorke might have a future with the Pirates, but he also spent the first five months at Triple-A Indianapolis while plenty of other players got opportunities in Pittsburgh. Devanney was already 28 when he made his MLB debut earlier this month. Bae hasn’t been productive for more than two years. Davis is a career .179 hitter in 552 at-bats.
You might be able to wring a run from that foursome in the minor leagues. However, even against another last-place team, the Pirates weren’t going to score against the Orioles in that situation.
The result was predictable as Yorke led off by grounding out to the shortstop.
The Pirates seemingly caught a break when automatic out, er, runner Oneil Cruz advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Yet Cruz was left stranded as Devanney struck out and Bae grounded back to the pitcher.
The Orioles won the game in the bottom of the 10th on Dylan Beavers’ bases-loaded single off Kyle Nicolas.
Speaking of Nicolas, why does he get worse each time the Pirates send him to Indianapolis and bring him back? That’s another story for another day, though, because this column – like so many others – is about the Pirates’ abysmal hitting.
I am not breaking any new ground by writing about the Pirates’ awful offense. But sometimes it just hits you full force, like it did in the 10th inning on Wednesday night.
Nick Yorke.
Cam Devanney.
Ji Hwan Bae.
Henry Davis.
How can the Pirates roll out a lineup with all four of those players in it? How do the Pirates expect to win with such a low level of talent?
How can the Pirates’ hitting attack be so lacking after general manager Ben Cherington has had six years to fix it?
And how can owner Bob Nutting look at that lineup and still have any confidence that Cherington can turn the Pirates into a winner?
Nutting may be smarter than the rest of us. Maybe he doesn’t watch the games.