Bullpen issues arise again in Bucs loss
PITTSBURGH -- Throughout the first week of the season, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle often said his bullpen would be "interesting." Some nights, it's the good kind of interesting -- a collection of young relievers stepping up in roles they've never held before. Other nights are like Saturday.After Chad Kuhl worked
PITTSBURGH -- Throughout the first week of the season, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle often said his bullpen would be "interesting." Some nights, it's the good kind of interesting -- a collection of young relievers stepping up in roles they've never held before. Other nights are like Saturday.
After
"When you've got young pitchers, some are going to step up and some are going to try to find their way," Hurdle said. "They need to find their way sooner than later. They want to. We want them to."
In some cases, they have.
Searching for effective offspeed pitches, Neverauskas became dependent upon his fastball and paid for it. The right-hander loaded the bases with two hits and a walk, and Suarez smacked a fastball into left field for a two-run, game-tying single.
"There haven't been sequences that have been really sharp. There's been a pitch here or there," Hurdle said. "We haven't been able to get some traction with him, and that's what happened tonight. ... We've seen better. We haven't seen better lately. That was another hard sixth inning for us."
That inning has been the Pirates' recurring issue, the one question mark amid a fast start to the season. They've allowed 39 runs this season, and 11 of them have come in the sixth. The young Bucs bullpen -- specifically the trio of Neverauskas, Santana and Josh Smoker -- has been called into action often in that frame, too, as the Pirates have only had one starter (
The eighth inning, by comparison, hasn't been much of a problem at all. Kontos is their lone veteran reliever, and he has been excellent since Pittsburgh acquired him last August.
But with the game tied in the eighth on Saturday, the Reds put runners on the corners with a pair of ground-ball singles.
Kontos blamed only himself for his pitch selection. In hindsight, the right-hander would have thrown a cutter or a slider -- anything else from his deep arsenal. But after throwing a first-pitch sinker down in the zone, which Suarez fouled off, Kontos threw another that sailed into Suarez's swing plane for a tie-breaking, three-run homer.
"I kind of just went away from my strengths and second-guessed myself and put a pitch out there that he can handle," Kontos said. "It's unfortunate. I made a mistake here and it cost us a win today, or possibly a win. I've got to go back to pitching to my strengths and doing what I'm capable of doing."
After jumping out to a four-run lead against Reds starter
"I don't know if it got below freezing really quick," he said. "It's one of those nights, started off good and kind of faded. We could've done a better job getting something going, I think."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
First strike: Down by four runs in the third, the Reds started to climb back into the game. Winker worked a one-out walk, one of his four times on base, and took third when Suarez hit a line drive to right field that bounced past
Leave 'em loaded: Kuhl gave up one run in the fifth when
"The slider kind of came back to me late against Duvall. A couple curveballs to Scooter," Kuhl said. "Being able to use those and have those late in the game was huge."
QUOTABLE
"I just wanted to be short, be quick and hit it hard. It just happened to find Bell's glove -- a really, really good play. ... But Geno picked me up and it was a fun way to win." -- Winker, on Bell's excellent catch and Suarez's game-winning homer
"It's just bad coaching on our part. There was miscommunication. That should never happen. Never happen." -- Hurdle, on
WHAT'S NEXT
After tying a career high with nine strikeouts in Pittsburgh's home opener,
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Adam Berry has covered the Pirates for MLB.com since 2015. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook and read his blog.