That hot stretch? It's needed now after Pirates are swept by Dodgers
LOS ANGELES — The Pirates arrived in California on Wednesday knowing they’d need a strong showing against the Dodgers, not only to kickstart their longest road trip of the season but to spark a badly needed hot streak over the final weeks or so.
While general manager Ben Cherington before Sunday’s series finale professed his belief that the Pirates can make such a run, that quest did not get off to a great start during the first leg of a nine-game road trip.
The latest edition was a 4-0 loss at Dodger Stadium Sunday that concluded a series sweep for the Dodgers. It marks the fourth time the Pirates have been swept in a series and the sixth time they’ve been shut out since the All-Star break.
“I don't think getting swept is ever good,” Spencer Horwitz said. “I think in our current situation, it definitely is bigger. This team has hopes for the playoffs, and it just got a whole lot harder.”
All three games here followed similar paths, though this was the most lopsided. The over-arching difference: starting pitching.
Pirates starters didn’t have a starter go more than four innings. With six shutout innings Sunday, Blake Snell technically delivered the Dodgers’ shortest start, but it was also dominant.
Snell allowed just two singles — none after the second inning — walked three and struck out six. Pirates hitters whiffed on his four-seam fastball nine times. They had 19 whiffs overall and registered just one ball with an exit velocity of 95 mph or greater.
“He kept us off-balance all day,” Horwitz said.
Over three games, Dodgers starters allowed five earned runs over 19 1/3 innings for an ERA of 2.33. Snell, Tarik Skubal and Yoshinobu Yamamoto also walked five and struck out 26.
Pirates starters gave up 10 earned runs in 13 innings (combining Lake Bachar and Carmen Mlodzinski) while walking 10 and striking out 16.
If the Pirates are going to make a run, they need the starting pitching to take them there, which didn’t happen this weekend. It's also been an issue far too frequently since the All-Star break.
“It’s going to take everyone,” Horwitz said. “Once we all get on the same page, the sky's the limit for this team. But we haven't done that yet.”
The loss dropped the Pirates to 63-69 on the season, eight games back of the last National League Wild Card with 30 to play. They’re also just 8-13 in August, the furthest under .500 they’ve been in a given month this season. (Six games under .500 also matches their season-worst mark.)
With Konnor Griffin expected back Sept. 4 and Ryan O’Hearn in mid-September, yes, there are reinforcements coming. But the Pirates have to be better in the immediate future to ensure those returns matter, starting with Braxton Ashcraft Monday against the Padres at Petco Park.
The Dodgers grabbed a 1-0 lead against Bachar in the first inning when Shohei Ohtani worked an 11-pitch walk, stole second and scored on a double-play ball.
Mlodzinski breezed through a 1-2-3 third before the Dodgers plated a pair of runs in the fourth thanks to singles from center fielder Alek Thomas and catcher Hunter Feduccia.
The Dodgers added to their lead again in the fifth, opening the inning with a pair of singles before third baseman Max Muncy hit a tapper back to the mound. Mlodzinski could’ve potentially went home with it — first baseman Freddie Freeman wasn’t terribly far down the line — but stuck with the out at first, allowing the run to score.
“The way the ball was directing me, I didn’t really have full time to turn around,” Mlodzinski said. “I did see Freeman going kind of out of the corner of my eye. I just wasn’t sure if I was gonna have time to make that throw. Nobody out in that situation, I just want to make sure that I get one out. Just kind of a funky play with the way that the ball was directing me.”
Mlodzinski allowed three earned runs in three innings. It was better than his past three appearances — he attacked more, and his sinker played well — but Pittsburgh’s starting pitching duo for this game combined for four earned runs allowed in five innings.
Khristian Curtis covered the final three innings ... and looked terrific. Recalled earlier in the day, Curtis didn't allow a run or a hit while finishing with a walk and a strikeout.
It's more of what Curtis (MLB Pipeline No. 15) showed earlier this season in Cleveland, when he gave up two innings and struck out four over five scoreless innings in his MLB debut. Curtis averaged 96.8 mph with his four-seam fastball, up from 95.3 mph the last time he appeared in an MLB game.
“It’s a big confidence boost knowing your stuff is good enough to get those types of hitters out,” Curtis said.
The eight scoreless, career-opening innings are one shy of Bubba Chandler’s 8 1/3 last season. Curtis retired 18 consecutive Major League batters: the final 11 of his July debut and his first seven Sunday before Tommy Edman walked.
Pittsburgh has cycled through optionable relievers and repurposed starters of late. But it'll be interesting to see if Curtis gets a longer look. He's earned it.
More immediate, though, the Pirates need to get hot. Like, now.
"We know we’re going to click, like we’ve done this year at times," Mlodzinski said. "We still have a certain confidence to us that has been there the whole year. When times are tough and you get swept, you kind of just have to turn the page and say, ‘What do we need to do in this next series in San Diego to win?’ I think we’re going to do our best job to try and make that happen."
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.