PITTSBURGH -- The Pirates’ starting pitching was bound to need a little help at some point, and that was the case on Thursday afternoon as Jameson Taillon allowed five runs in five innings against a red-hot D-backs team.
Pittsburgh can only hope its lineup is also bound to improve at some point -- and soon.
The Pirates’ losing streak reached five games on Thursday as they fell, 5-0, to the D-backs at PNC Park. The Bucs scored only seven runs as they were swept by Arizona in a four-game series, and they’ve managed to put up only nine runs since their last win on Saturday.
The final margin would have been wider if not for a sensational seventh-inning grab at the wall by a leaping JB Shuck to rob Eduardo Escobar of at least a double and likely a two-run homer. The grab ended the frame and led Escobar, star-struck as he replayed the catch in his head, to tip his helmet at Shuck.
“You just keep plugging away. It comes and goes, but you’ve got to stay consistent with your approach,” Pittsburgh second baseman Colin Moran said. “We’ve got a lot of talented hitters in the lineup. Even with the injuries, we’ve got plenty of talent left. We’ve just got to stick with our approach.”
The Pirates should get some reinforcements off the injured list soon enough. Center fielder Starling Marte won’t spend much longer on the IL, and rookie outfielder Bryan Reynolds wasn’t expected to sit out more than a few days with a sore left quad. Outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall is out on a rehab assignment, and left fielder Corey Dickerson should begin one sooner than later.
Then again, it may not have mattered who was in the lineup against D-backs right-hander Zack Greinke. The veteran starter delivered a vintage performance to shut down Pittsburgh, allowing only two singles and one walk while striking out seven in seven innings.
The Bucs only hit four balls out of the infield against Greinke. They took 16 of the 45 fastballs he threw for strikes. It seemed, Moran said, like Greinke could do whatever he wanted.
“It was old-school Atlanta Braves pitching today,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “He was running them over the black stripe. Fastball was painted.”
As a team, the Bucs are averaging only 3.3 runs per game while slashing .228/.299/.363 this season. They won’t find any favorable matchups this weekend, when they are set to face lefties Hyun-Jin Ryu, Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill, so they need the hitters they have to step up as they head west to face the reigning National League champion Dodgers.
The Pirates could also use more of the starting pitching performances they saw before their current skid. The rotation is the backbone of their team, so they will be counting on Chris Archer, Joe Musgrove and Trevor Williams to set the tone this weekend.
“Every year is long, and you’re going to have a tough stretch,” Taillon said. “We’re going to Dodger Stadium, so you can’t let a bad series here linger too long. We have to be ready to go tomorrow, because you know the Dodgers will be ready.”
A day after Jordan Lyles gave up five runs (four earned) in five innings, Taillon allowed six hits -- four of them for extra bases. He struck out five without a walk and got through five innings on 76 pitches, but Arizona’s aggressive lineup -- stacked with four switch-hitters in Thursday’s series finale -- left Taillon with little margin for error.
“I thought I made a lot of really good pitches today, and the ones I didn’t, they let me know they weren’t good pitches,” Taillon said. “They’re hot right now.”
Christian Walker doubled in a run and scored on a groundout in the first inning to give the D-backs an early lead. Walker doubled again and scored on another productive groundout in the fourth. Greinke led off the fifth with his first career triple, which bounced off the right-field wall and past Gregory Polanco, then Jarrod Dyson smacked an RBI triple into the right-field corner. Dyson scored on a sacrifice fly by Eduardo Escobar.
Taillon came away impressed with Arizona's ability to convert on those scoring opportunities with a runner on second or third and less than two outs. That’s been a challenge for the Bucs over the last five games. They didn’t have many chances on Thursday, but they finished the day 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position. Over the last three games, they’ve gone 1-for-21 in those situations -- and that one hit didn’t score a run.
That’s the way things have gone for the Pirates against the D-backs the last few years, especially in Pittsburgh. Thursday was the Bucs’ 10th straight loss to Arizona at PNC Park.
“Ever since ’17, the Diamondbacks on the North Shore have been problematic. This one’s over with. It’s done,” Hurdle said. “You don’t get a shot to beat them here until next year. Our focus needs to be on what we do next in L.A.”