PHOENIX – As he does, Pirates right-hander Bubba Chandler dialed up the heat Tuesday.
Chandler’s fastball was clocked at 100-plus mph four times in the first inning, and he hit 99 mph or above 18 times in his five innings, while delivering the 25 fastest pitches of the game, according to Statcast.
But on this day, less was more.
The Pirates’ inability to counter Eduardo Rodriguez’s less overpowering but eminently spot-able five-pitch mix made the difference in a 9-0 loss to the Diamondbacks that broke a three-game winning streak.
“Rodriguez filled up the zone,” said Pirates acting manager Kris Negron, who filled in while Don Kelly served a one-game suspension. “He was pounding in, first-pitch strikes, working ahead and stayed out of the middle.”
Rodriguez, who gave up two hits in seven innings, got seven outs with a four-seam fastball, five with a changeup, four with a two-seam fastball, four with a curveball and one with a cutter. Five strikeouts came on a 91-93 mph fastball and two on a curve.
“We’re trying not to chase, but when he’s living on the edges and working ahead, it makes our job a little bit tougher,” Negron said.
The Pirates were shut out for the third time this season, a reversal from their just-concluded series sweep of Cincinnati in which they scored 27 runs.
The Pirates did not get a hit until the fifth, when Jared Triolo lined an 80 mph curve down the left-field line for a double with two outs in what was still a 2-0 game. Oneil Cruz grounded out to end the inning.
“It is frustrating, because he’s throwing three or four different pitches, competitive pitches. He could throw them in any count,” Triolo said.
Konnor Griffin extended his hitting streak to seven games and his age-20 batting average to .410 with a double off the center-field fence on a 91 mph fastball with two outs in the seventh, when it was 7-0.
“A fastball kind of inside, and got good barrel on it,” said Griffin, who's been on fire since turning 20 on April 24. “He was locating well, going in and out, mixing it up on us and keeping us off balance. It’s not like we weren’t having good at-bats, it just didn’t go our way.”
Marcell Ozuna’s fly ball to the warning track in center in the fourth was about the only other hard-hit ball.
Chandler, for his part, weathered a 37-pitch first inning in which he gave up his only two runs, on two hits and three walks. After a one-out triple, Chandler got ahead 0-2 on Corbin Carroll before walking him.
That inning was complicated by an apparent miscommunication between center fielder Cruz and right fielder Bryan Reynolds on Ildemaro Vargas’ catchable two-out fly ball to deep right-center.
Reynolds appeared to pull away at the last minute, and the ball fell untouched for an RBI double, allowing the second run of the inning to score. Chandler walked the next two batters but got out of the inning on a groundout.
“I gave up the ball in the air,” Chandler said. “Like, don’t do that. I simply shouldn’t walk Carroll; 0-2 and I walked him. It’s pathetic.”
Chandler did not give up a hit in his final four innings, finishing with four strikeouts and six walks.
“Cheers to him,” Negron said. “I talked to him after and said I was proud of him the way he battled back after that first inning got out of hand a little bit. Unbelievable job of grinding through.”
Chandler threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of his 22 batters. He said the next step is “to find a way to get into the sixth, seventh.”
“Just trying to pitch and trying to dominate,” Chandler said. “Some days you do and some days you don’t. Grinded my butt off tonight. I’ll keep that one in the back pocket and know we can do it and go out there Sunday [in San Francisco] and do it.
“I’m ready and I’m prepared for this level, so I’ve just got to be better in a couple of places. Once I do that, I’m going to start rolling.”