Pirates Takeaways: Can The Late Rally Attempt Provide A Spark For The Offense? (+)
PITTSBURGH — In what has been a reoccurring theme for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the offense struggled to produce much of anything. That was until the ninth inning.
Facing an 8-2 deficit heading into the final frame, the Pirates rallied to score five runs, but came up short as the Phillies held on to defeat the Pirates 8-7.
It took until the seventh inning for the Pirates to find the scoreboard, when Cal Mitchell blasted a two-run shot into right-center field as part of a three-hit night.
Mitchell whacked a 2-2 fastball from Zack Wheeler over the fence.
“I was looking to not strike out,” Mitchell said with a laugh. “Try to to see something over the middle of the plate… and I ended up getting something good to hit.”
Mitchell’s blast put the Pirates on the board, but they still found themselves trailing by six runs in the final frame. Tyler Heineman drove in two with a base hit, followed by a Kevin Newman two-run triple. Oneil Cruz collected an RBI groundout to make it a one-run contest.
Phillies closer Seranthony Dominguez recorded the final out to end the Bucs’ hopes of pulling off the come-from-behind win. Even though the rally wasn’t enough, it can still be a positive.
“Fighting out of that at the end definitely provides some confidence and some reassurance to the clubhouse that we can come back from tough games,” said Mitchell.
The five runs in the ninth inning were tied for the most the Pirates have scored total in any of the first five contests since All-Star break prior to Thursday night. It’s no secret the Pirates’ offense has been struggling, but that doesn’t mean this can’t jumpstart the bats.
“I give our guys a ton of credit. I think the one thing we’ve talked about a lot with this group is that they continue to play, regardless of the score, regardless of the game,” Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton.
For some context on the offensive woes, Kyle Schwarber hit his 32nd home run of the season for the Phillies in the sixth inning. By comparison, the Pirates’ starting nine on Thursday had 20 — combined. Cruz had the most with six through 31 games.
Back-To-Back Bad Ones
For his second straight outing, Pittsburgh Pirates starter Zach Thompson struggled. In each of his last two games, Thompson surrendered seven runs.
The Phillies recorded 11 hits against him, which happens to a pitch-to-contact style of pitcher.
“I’m not really a strikeout pitcher, I like to get contact,” Thompson said. “Sometimes you make good pitches that get hit, I made a few that were good… but sometimes things happen.”
His manager echoed those comments.
“We know he’s going to give up contact, he’s that type of pitcher,” Shelton said. “Balls fell in.”
Some balls did fall in, but some balls were hit hard off of Thompson. Eleven registered exit velocities of 100+ mph. Schwarber’s home run was the final of those 11.
It’s a tough break for the big righty, who had been strong in his previous seven starts when he hadn’t allowed more than two earned runs and posted a 2.75 ERA.
Post-Break Problems
Prior to the All-Star break, the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing pretty good baseball, amassing a 10-9 record in their last 19 games. Since the break, however, the Pirates are just 1-5.
A large part of the struggles in the second half have been with the bats, but pitching was the issue in Thursday’s loss.
The Pirates will turn to Jose Quintana on Friday to right the ship against the Phillies, and they’re hoping their late-inning offensive outburst carries over into the weekend.