PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Pittsburgh Pirates attempted to rally back from a 3-0 deficient in the bottom of the ninth inning at PNC Park. Andrew McCutchen came through with a RBI single to drive in Starling Marte off the Chicago Cubs closer Carlos Marmol. First baseman Gaby Sanchez, too, picked up a RBI with a base hit of his own to bring the game within one. But Marmol was able to escape the jam and pick up the save after a strikeout and Neil Walker grounded into a game inning double play to seal the Bucs loss, 3-2.
The Pirates have scored a combined six runs over their first three games of the season, dropping their record to 1-2. The cold Pittsburgh temperature’s during the opening home stand in the 30’s are not the factor, catcher Russell Martin said after the game.
“It’s a long season,” said Martin, who has yet to pick of his first hit of the season. “We’ve definitely got some guys that can swing the bat. We’ve got some guys that can drive the ball. We’ll get our timing down and we’ll be fine. It’s definitely too early to start pressing that’s for sure.”
Shadowed by the loss to the Cubs (2-1), the Pirates (1-2) got a strong first start of the season from James McDonald.
McDonald took some positives steps during spring training in Florida. The right-hander posted a 4.19 ERA over five Grapefruit League starts, most of the damage coming from a four-run three inning outing in early March. After a rocky exhibition series against the Double-A Altoona Curve his final tune-up before making his 2013 debut on Saturday, both McDonald and Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle were confident in him this season.
“I saw control of the running game, different holds, release times, slide steps, throw overs –that entire package developed well,” Hurdle said. “Four pitch mix at times was very clean and fresh…Obviously establishing downhill angle is huge for him. Whenever we’ve seen him good and seen him crisp, it’s downhill angle with the fastball in the strike zone. He’s aggressive in the zone.”
“Every pitch needs to be a purpose pitch, and at times I think he’s still trying to find his own identity. We’ve tried to help him with that. Go pitch. You don’t need to shake off much. We’re asking you to follow the game plan, trust the catcher, see the sign, give it and go. Pace is huge and rhythm is critical.”
The 2012 campaign was a tale of two seasons for McDonald. He was perhaps snubbed from the All-Star roster after an impressive 2.37 ERA over his 17 starts before the break, but soon faltered there after posting a 7.52 mark over his final 13 outings. The struggles weren’t from a mechanical standpoint, but from a mental aspect.
“Everything starts with a thought, for me, and I don’t want his first thought to be on his mechanics when he’s out competing,” Hurdle said. “I want his first thought to be on competing. Mechanics are for the bullpen, side work, other times, watching in the video room. Any player that gets on the field in times of competition and starts focusing on mechanics I think is heading in the wrong direction. That’s from my personal experience and from the experiences in my coaching with other players.”
The first inning was a struggle for McDonald in the spring. After a big inning would unravel, the right-hander would settle in. Getting past the start of the game was key, and McDonald was able to do that on Thursday afternoon at PNC Park.
“Towards the end he struggled at the end of spring, probably just wanted to get the season started.,” Martin said of McDonald’s progression. “Overall, we’ve worked on just his pace and really being aggressive out there. He looked really comfortable out there –especially after getting through that first inning. Normally when he has a good first inning, everything kind of falls into place for him.”
McDonald gave up a full count walk to David De Jesus, but was able to leave him stranded after three straight fly outs to end the 1st. The 28-year-old retired his next seven straight before allowing a one-out single to center in the third. This time, however, McDonald was unable to leave the runner stranded after a groundout pushed him to second and a RBI knock from Starlin Castro drove him home.
From there, McDonald retired 11 straight before issuing his second walk of the game with one out in the 7th, which was his final inning of work. Overall, the righty held the Cubs to one run on two hits with two walks and four strikeouts, 97 pitches, 61 for strikes.
“It was a really good outing from James. Very, very good,” Hurdle said. “Good pace. Followed the game plan. Followed Russell and the glove. Threw some very good fastballs in some fastball counts and beat some people with it. Curveball came into play really, really well. Couple of the counts that he got behind in, he came back and threw strikes to get back in them. Just very aggressive. Kept the foot on the gas.”
For McDonald, it was important from a confidence standpoint to get off on right foot.
“I was happy with the way that I competed,” McDonald said. “Every pitch meant something to me. I went out there and just went straight after guys. It helps my confidence pretty good. It’s good momentum going for my next start.”
“That’s the old thing where you want an experienced pitcher. Well, how do they get experience? They got to go pitch,” Hurdle said. “They’ve got to go through these things. J-Mac is developing. This is part of James growing up, becoming a big league pitcher and meeting the challenges from last season…It’s still the man out there. We know what’s inside of him. It’s just finding a way to get it out consistently at this level…We believe in him. It can be lonely out there sometimes. He’s experienced that as well.”
“I’m happy that he was able to go out and do what I believed he was able to do, and what we’ve seen him do. Big picture, you want your team to win at the end of the day. If you can’t win, and for James McDonald to go out and throw seven innings like that and one run, we couldn’t have hoped for much more than that.”
Up next: The Pirates fly to the west coast to face the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three game set.
Friday: Jonathan Sanchez vs. Zack Greinke
Saturday: A.J. Burnet vs. Clayton Kershaw
Sunday: Jeff Locke vs. Hyun-Jin Ryu
For Sanchez and Locke, it will be their season debuts.
“Locke finished up [spring training] strong,” Hurdle said. “Sanchez finished up strong. I’m confident that these guys are going to go in and show up and give us a chance to win.”
