Pirates welcome off-day after long weekend

PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates’ off-day on Monday, as manager Clint Hurdle often says, “comes at a good time.” For their battered bullpen. For Jordan Lyles. For Josh Bell. For everyone, really.

Pittsburgh finished a stretch of 27 games in 27 days with a 4-2 loss to the Brewers on a cloud-covered Sunday afternoon at PNC Park. They will rest on Monday before beginning a three-game series at home against the Braves then embarking on a 10-day, 10-game road trip through Milwaukee, Atlanta and Miami.

The Pirates have lost 10 of their last 14 games. They are 12-15 since May 7, when their 27-games-in-27-days marathon began. If they weren’t already worn down heading into the home stretch of that period, then Saturday’s 13-inning marathon defeat and Sunday’s loss ensured that they were ready for the day off.

“Yeah. Pretty excited about that,” second baseman Adam Frazier said. “Try to get our feet back under us from yesterday and hit the ground running on Tuesday.”

• Box score

The Bucs’ bullpen had to cover 10 innings during Saturday’s nearly 5 1/2-hour affair, so starter Jordan Lyles knew he was due for a long day on the mound in the series finale. He needed 82 pitches to complete four innings, but he grinded through two more before handing the ball to setup men Francisco Liriano and Kyle Crick.

Lyles made 109 pitches -- the most by any Pirates starter since Chad Kuhl threw 111 last June 8 -- and gave up four runs over six innings against his former team. He reported no lingering soreness after exiting his last start due to a hamstring issue. Three of those runs were driven in by Eric Thames, who slugged a full-count curveball over the Clemente Wall for a two-run homer in the third inning then lined another curveball to left-center for an RBI double in the fifth.

“I think that’s what my outing came down to, his two-run homer and that double off two breaking balls I wish I could have back,” Lyles said. “Anything in the dirt right there, I felt like we had a good chance. Just didn’t make quality pitches with one of my better pitches.”

Brewers starter Zach Davies, thrust into action with lefty Gio Gonzalez unable to start the series finale, gave Milwaukee’s bullpen a break by working into the ninth inning. The right-hander allowed eight hits and two walks in eight innings, but only two runs.

“That’s the whole story. We both knew that we needed to go deep, and he was much better than I was today,” Lyles said. “He’s one of the best pitchers in the National League this year for a reason. He’s doing really well and doing his job.”

The Pirates had a chance to tie the game in the ninth, when Colin Moran hit a leadoff double and Gregory Polanco reached on the second catcher’s interference call of the game. Frazier dropped a bunt against reliever Alex Claudio, which resulted in Polanco being thrown out at second. Pinch-hitter Elias Diaz struck out, and Kevin Newman grounded into a game-ending forceout.

Why bunt with two runners on and nobody out while trailing by two?

“In a perfect world, the bunt goes to third,” Hurdle said. “We need to fight for inches on the basepaths. The last place I thought the throw would go was to second. It went to second, and they got an out. Defeated the purpose of the bunt.”

The Pirates had plenty of other chances. Both of their runs scored on outs -- Frazier on a sacrifice fly in the third, Starling Marte on a groundout in the fifth. They had no hits in 12 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Bell hit a leadoff double in the sixth but didn’t score. Bryan Reynolds was stranded at third after hitting a double to begin the eighth. Moran, too, was left on in the ninth after a leadoff double.

“We got the guys on base,” Frazier said. “Just didn’t get the big hit.”

For two months, the Pirates became accustomed to seeing Bell deliver those big hits. But after an incredible May, he took some uncharacteristically undisciplined swings during the first two days of June.

Bell’s 107-mph double to center in the sixth ended an 0-for-10 skid, but he struck out six times in 10 at-bats over the last two games. The early season All-Star candidate refuses to ask for a day off -- he has started each of the Pirates’ 58 games -- but Hurdle indicated that fatigue may have finally set in.

After a postgame workout, Bell denied that he’s tired but acknowledged that his timing might have been off the last few days.

“I feel like when I’m going well, it’s just one at-bat at a time. Just trying to stick with timing and continue to work every day,” Bell said. “If I can get back on track with timing with whoever starts on Tuesday, not missing fastballs in the zone, then I’ll continue to be hitting the ball hard.”

No, Bell is not planning to ask out of Tuesday’s starting lineup. But yes, he is looking forward to unplugging on Monday.

“I’m definitely not coming to the field, and I’m probably not going to watch the Draft, either,” Bell said, smiling. “I’m going to go costume-shopping for our trip coming up. That’s what on the agenda for tomorrow.”