Contreras’ Command Woes Continue, Cruz Homers Again in Pirates’ Loss to Jays

Roansy Contreras’ inconsistencies on the mound continued for the Pittsburgh Pirates in their 10-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at TD Ballpark on Wednesday afternoon.

Contreras walked two of the first three batters he faced before surrendering a three-run home run to Justin Turner to but the Blue Jays ahead 3-0 early.

A leadoff walk to Kevin Kiermaier in the second inning came back to bite Contreras when Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove him in with a double to tack on another run for Toronto (9-9-1).

The Pirates (7-11-1) finally found the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning on an Oneil Cruz solo home run. For Cruz, it was his fifth home run in his last four games played.

No one has more home runs this spring than Oneil Cruz. pic.twitter.com/VjvOOg67gs

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 13, 2024

The Blue Jays responded in the home-half of the inning thanks to a Bo Bichette RBI-single against Ryder Ryan.

Alika Williams trimmed the Pirates’ deficit to 5-2 on an RBI-groundout to third base in the top of the seventh inning.

Toronto erupted for five runs in the seventh inning, all of which where charged to right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski. Three of those runs came on a home run swing from Eduardo Escobar. Rafael Lantigua drove in two more with a base hit to right.

Shalin Polanco reached on an infield-single in the eighth, which allowed Ewry Espinal to score.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

• Contreras walked six batters in four innings pitched and now has 10 walks in 10.2 innings pitched. In this one, he was tagged for four earned runs, allowed two hits and struck out three.
• Hunter Stratton threw another scoreless inning of relief. He’s up to six innings without allowing a run this spring.
• Jake Lamb and Rowdy Tellez each went 1 for 2 with a double and a walk. Henry Davis also doubled and finished 1 for 3.
• In addition to his RBI-single, prospect Shalin Polanco also scored a run.

UP NEXT

The Pittsburgh Pirates will have two games on Thursday. The first is a regularly-scheduled Grapefruit League contest against the Baltimore Orioles. Left-hander Marco Gonzales will square off with Grayson Rodriguez at 3:05 ET at LECOM Park.

At 7:05 ET, prospects for the Pirates and Orioles will face each other in the Spring Breakout game. Top prospect Paul Skenes will be on the mound for Pittsburgh. Lefty Cade Povich will start for the Orioles.