Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways & Throwaways – Blanked in DC

The second half of the season has not started out the way the Pittsburgh Pirates intended as they dropped their second consecutive game to the Washington Nationals, this time 6-0. Here are the takeaways and throwaways from the shutout loss.

Takeaways

• Sean Rodriguez flashed some leather in the first inning when Clint Robinson hit a deep fly ball to right field. Rodriguez tracked it wonderfully, covered a ton of ground and made a diving catch on the warning track, ending the inning before anymore runs could cross the plate. With Gregory Polanco still a little banged up, Rodriguez’s flexibility when it comes to playing different positions could definitely come in handy in the next few days. This is not to say that he hasn’t been valuable this season, but rather you don’t really notice how valuable he is until someone gets hurts and he is called upon to play multiple games in a week.
• Another positive (not like there were many to chose from) was the relief outing from Jon Niese. Recently relegated to the bullpen, Niese gave the Pirates two innings and allowed a run and a hit while also striking out a batter. It will be interesting to see how Niese is delpoyed going forward, because the team is going to have a glut of long relief pitchers in the not too distant future.

Throwaways

• For the second night in a row, shaky defense cost the Pirates some runs. After intentionally walking Danny Espinosa in the fourth inning, the plan was to quickly retire Tanner Roark and get an easy out. Instead Roark hit a ground ball to the right side in which Josh Harrison had to range to his left. He got the ball but made an off balance throw past John Jaso, causing a second run to score during the play. Espinosa eventually came around to score after Ben Revere made contact on a weak infield hit. Jordy Mercer opted to go home with his throw but because of how Eric Fryer was set up, the runner was able to score.  So just like last night, the Pirates had one bad inning that put them further behind the Nationals. Saturday’s meltdown just occurred a little earlier in the game.
• Friday’s start was not what Gerrit Cole or the Pirates wanted to see. He did rack up five strikeouts in four innings, but unfortunately he did not last past that inning. In that time he gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks. It’s understandable that he may have been rusty after such a long time on the disabled list, so hopefully he’ll bounce back his next time out.

W – Tanner Roark (9-5)

L – Gerrit Cole (5-5)

Line of the Night

Just like last night, we’ll focus on the starting pitcher who was deployed by the opposition.

Roark was fantastic on Friday, pitching into the ninth inning while allowing just five hits and one walk. He also added five strikeouts to his season total. He did hit Starling Marte in the ninth, which was when Dusty Baker decided to remove him from the game. Roark represents the second tough starting pitcher in a row for the Pirates, and things do not get any easier on Sunday.

Up Next

The first series after the All Star Break concludes tomorrow at 1:35pm when the Pirates send Chad Kuhl (1-0, 6.08) to the mound to oppose Max Scherzer (10-6, 3.03). Both Kuhl and Scherzer made their last start of the first half on July 9th, and the outings went in opposite directions. Kuhl lasted just two and a third innings against the Chicago Cubs, surrendering seven hits and four runs in the shortest outing of his young career. Scherzer on the other hand kept the Mets off the scoreboard over seven innings of work, allowing three hits and two walks to go along with nine strikeouts.