Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways and Throwaways – Struggles continue for Bucs

The Pittsburgh Pirates have continued to slump, losing their fourth consecutive game with a 5-1 loss to the St Louis Cardinals tonight. Here are the takeaways and throwaways from game two of this three game weekend series

Takeaways

• In a game that didn’t feature a ton of offense, Starling Marte was a shining light for the Pirates as he went 3-for-4 on the day and raised his season batting average to .329. Marte notched his second consecutive multi-hit game in the contest and was hitting .318 in his previous seven games.
• Gregory Polanco continued to swing a hot bat tonight and continued to show patience at the plate. Polanco, who leads the National League in doubles, added to that with his 22nd double of the year. Polanco was 1-for-2 on the night with two walks and is now hitting .297 this season.
• Tonight, Francisco Liriano continued his run of stellar performances against the Cardinals. In three starts against St Louis this season, Liriano is now 2-1 while giving up six runs (two earned) on 12 hits and striking out 28 in 19 innings pitched. Liriano also lowered his season ERA from 5.25 to 4.79 with his six innings of work.

Throwaways

• Despite being stellar in his first four innings of work, Francisco Liriano struggled in the fifth, giving up a leadoff double to Brandon Moss, who would later score on a passed ball by catcher Chris Stewart. After Jedd Gyorko reached on the passed ball and Aledmys Diaz walked, Liriano allowed a three-run home run to Matt Holliday to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.
• One day after Francisco Cervelli left a game and on the same day that Cervelli was placed on the 15-day disabled list, Chris Stewart left the game early with a sore left ankle. Stewart came off the field limping after a play at the plate in the seventh inning and newly acquired, 35-year old catcher Erik Kratz came in to catch in the eighth inning. If Stewart were to go down for a long period of time, it definitely would put the Pirates in a tough position at a position that, prior to injury issues, was once thought to have a ton of depth.

Chris Stewart, already banged up, was shaken up on the play at the plate to end the seventh

— Travis Sawchik (@Sawchik_Trib) June 12, 2016

• As a team, the Pirates were unable to figure out Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez, who pitched 8.1 innings, giving up one earned run on five hits and walking three. Martinez only had five strikeouts, but was extremely effective, inducing 12 ground balls in the start.
• Andrew McCutchen’s struggles continue to be a concern as the Pirates center fielder went 0-for-4 with two more strikeouts tonight. McCutchen was hitting .192 in his previous seven games coming into tonight and is now hitting .245 this season.

W – Carlos Martinez (7-5)

L – Francisco Liriano (4-6)

SV –  Trevor Rosenthal (12)

Line of the Night

Newly recalled Rob Scahill pitched two innings in relief of Liriano, giving up one earned run on three hits while striking out two in two innings of work. Scahill was able to induce two ground ball outs in his two innings and threw 27 pitches, 20 of which were strikes.

Up Next

The Pirates will look to salvage one game of this series in the finale tomorrow at PNC Park with first pitch scheduled for 5:05 p.m. For the Pirates, Jonathon Niese (6-2, 3.93) takes the mound against Mike Leake (4-4, 4.22) of the Cardinals.

Thanks for checking us out here at Pirates Breakdown. Please make sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook for the best Pirates coverage all year long!