The Pirates have been one of the better teams in baseball so far this season. There’s really no denying that. Unfortunately, every good team will have its bad days. The Pirates fell victim to Murphy’s Law as they walked eight and hit three batters as a team, en route to a loss to the Nationals by the score of 5-4.
“We’ve played very good ball to this point. Every once and awhile you have a game where you’re not in sync,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. “All of those walks and hit batters add up. We put a couple of good swings on Strasburg, but at the end of the day, they just played better than us today. That’s how you look at it.”
Pirates starter Jeff Locke, one of the pleasant surprises of the season, took the hill for the Pirates. While some may argue that Locke was pulled earlier than he should have been after just 74 pitches and three hits, Locke’s control was absent as he walked three and plunked one batter.
“Watching the game, I thought he was in-and-out of his delivery a little bit. Three walks, a hit batter and four free 90’s at that point in time, I thought we’d be best served to pinch off that inning, maintain a lead and not try and mess with the other side of their bullpen,” Hurdle said.
Locke said while he thought he could have gone longer, he said it’s about what’s best for the team, not for him.
“You always want to go further, no matter how far you get. That’s something that we pride ourselves on is just going until they take the ball away,” Locke said. “I think we’re trying to do what’s best for the entire team and not what is best for me or for the other guys.”
Despite the game being a 4-4 tie heading into the ninth inning, Hurdle decided to stick with Tony Watson instead of opting for Jason Grilli or Mark Melancon. His reason raised eyebrows.
“Because of his age. We’re not going to use Grilli in that situation,” Hurdle said. “Grilli’s not going to pitch in certain situation when the game is tied at home in the ninth inning, just because of the usage that we want to monitor.”
Okay, what about Melancon?
“No. Melancon is only going to pitch for now when we are ahead in the 8th inning just to get that out there,” said Hurdle.
The Pirates runs came off a a two-run homer from Starling Marte in the third inning and a two-run shot from Clint Barmes in the fifth inning.
The Pirates and Nationals will have the rubber-match tomorrow as Wandy Rodriguez (2-1, 3.91 ERA) will take the hill for the Pirates (17-13). Gio Gonzalez (2-2, 5.34 ERA) will oppose him for the Nationals (16-15). First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 from PNC Park.
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