Nine observations: Long day, lengthy loss to Rays not worth dwelling on for long

A sellout crowd, Paul Skenes starting on his bobblehead night, and the Pirates aiming to build on a quality win Friday. The stage was set. Yet several things combined to create a long, frustrating day at PNC Park.

Skenes’ start was cut short by a 2-hour, 27-minute rain delay. Meanwhile, the Pirates went two for 17 with runners in scoring position, stranding 12.

They effectively ran out of relief pitching by the 13th inning when Yohan Ramirez gave up a two-run home run to Rays center fielder Cedric Mullins, the final blow of an 8-7 Pirates loss.

Though the Pirates showed fight, scoring in the eighth and 11th innings, they came up a run short in the 13th.

"I don't even know where to start with that one," Pirates manager Don Kelly said.

Neither did I, honestly. Weird game. A lot happened, and I’m not sure any of it really matters long-term, other than getting some better work out of the middle relievers.

It was also a tough day weather-wise. The Pirates nearly got through five innings, but a long second inning meant the game was not yet official when the rain came.

But with Skenes on schedule, some difficulty moving the game up more than 30 minutes, and a chance to get this in the books before it was stopped, things just didn’t work out. On a lot of fronts.

With that said, let’s get right into my postgame observations:

1. The Pirates need someone to step up when it comes to long relief. Dennis Santana, Gregory Soto, Isaac Mattson, Yohan Ramirez and Mason Montgomery have been solid in normal bullpen roles. I can understand why the Pirates want to stick with Justin Lawrence. There’s something there. He pitched well Saturday.

But whether it’s been Jose Urquidy, Hunter Barco, Evan Sisk or Cam Sanders, those guys haven’t been able to provide what the Pirates need in that spot — getting outs and covering innings.

After returning from the delay, Sanders gave up a one-run double to third baseman Junior Caminero on a hanging slider, then first baseman Jonathan Aranda knocked a changeup into center to cut the Pirates lead to 4-2.

Sisk left a sinker middle-middle to Jonny DeLuca, who crushed it into the North Side Notch for a two-run double, tying the game at 4. Mullins pushed the Rays in front by connecting on a sweeper from Sisk that was well off the plate.

"As tough as these losses are, we'll learn something from it and continue to battle on," Kelly said. "And the guys have shown that, throughout the first part of the season, we have had a short memory.

“Looking forward to bouncing back Sunday.”

2. This was a tough spot for Ramirez. Santana had pitched on three consecutive days, Mason two. Ramirez was called upon to give the Pirates some length, but there was only so much he could do.

Some of his issues were self-inflicted, too. In the 11th, his errant pickoff throw allowed Rays shortstop Taylor Walls to score from first. The right-hander also issued a pair of walks. Mullins crushed a 2-0 four-seamer that was left middle-middle, which he cranked 403 feet at 103.9 mph.

3. It’s a shame Skenes’ start was shortened due to the rain, as he seemed to really found a nice rhythm, striking out four while finishing with a pair of 1-2-3 innings.

After throwing a lot of changeups in his last start, Skenes featured his four-seam fastball and sweeper the most. He also pitched backward a little, something Skenes is capable of doing. Four of his five strikeouts came looking. All was the result of hard stuff.

Skenes’ ERA is down to a much-more-palatable 3.27.

4. Ryan O’Hearn has been excellent with men on base the entire season. His two-run homer in the first gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead, O’Hearn connecting on an elevated cutter that he spanked at 106.5 mph.

The home run was the fourth of the season for O’Hearn, who entered hitting .324 (12 for 37) with 12 RBIs and six walks with runners on base.

5. Oneil Cruz connected for a double in the fifth inning. That was his 11th hit this season against left-handed pitching, matching last year’s total in the Pirates’ 21st game.

6. This game featured three calls involving interference, plus a double play in the 13th that was awarded when Rays left fielder Chandler Simpson collided with Brandon Lowe. Can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like that. We had catcher’s and runner’s interference in the second inning, then batter interference on Tampa Bay in the seventh.

7. The 10th inning for the Pirates might’ve been the most frustrating. Cruz advanced to third with one out. After two intentional walks, Ozuna struck out looking, and Nick Yorke went down swinging.

On the plus side, Ozuna did homer again and continues to look more like himself.

8. The beauty of this one? It only counts once, although it felt like multiple games. Too long of a day for everyone. The Pirates offense has largely been pretty good, but it couldn’t get the key hit when it needed it.

"It's a pretty common theme in baseball: pitching, defense and timely hitting,” Kelly said. “When we don't get that timely hit, it's really hard to win. Everybody wants to get the big hit. We just have to stay within our approach. We need to continue to harp on that as we go through the season."

9. The teams combined for 12 walks, 26 strikeouts and used 50 of 52 rostered players. Only Santana and Montgomery didn’t enter the game.

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.