Edinson Volquez couldn’t pick up where his first half ended as he allowed ten hits in five earned runs in a Pirates 5-2 loss to the Dodgers on Monday night in front of 28,255 at PNC Park.
Volquez didn’t have his stuff allowing at least one baserunner in each inning he pitched — 13 total baserunners. An 11-day layoff didn’t help him out,either, as it was the longest non-injury layoff between starts during a season he’s had in his career.
“I think I had too many days in between starts,” said Volquez. “I pitched the last game in St. Louis and it was really tough to pitch against a team like that. [The Dodgers] are a really good team and I wasn’t able to execute my breaking balls and, you know, it’s tough.”
The Dodgers (56-45) got on the board first in the third. Following a fielders choice and a walk, Matt Kemp singled home a run. Andre Ethier followed with a RBI groundout. They added three more in the fourth. With runners on second and third and two out, Justin Turner hit a sharp chopper that bounced off of third basemen Josh Turner and into center field to score both runners. Adrian Gonzalez followed with a bloop RBI single to make it 5-0.
The Pirates (52-47) got on the board against Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu in the bottom of the fourth. Andrew McCutchen singled with one out and Neil Walker walked with two out. Russell Martin and Jordy Mercer followed with back-to-back RBI singles to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Ryu settled back down retiring nine of the final ten Pirate batters he faced before giving the ball up to bullpen in the eighth.
“The guy’s got weapons,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “He’s a cool cat on the mound and he stayed away from the barrel. We got the tying run to the plate in the fourth inning and we never had more than one runner on base after that, so he pitched very effectively.”
Brian Wilson, J.P. Howell and Kenley Jansen finished things off for the Dodgers.
Final Score: Dodgers 5, Pirates 2.
Starters Lines
Volquez (L, 8-7): 5 2/3 IN, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 IBB, 3 K’s, 1 WP, 1 HBP. 102 Pitches (61 Strikes).
Ryu (W, 11-5): 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K’s. 98 Pitches (66 Strikes).
The Pirates will look to bounce back and even the three-game set tomorrow evening.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(RHP) Vance Worley (PIT): 2-1, 3.38 ERA
(RHP) Josh Beckett (LAD): 6-5, 2.26 ERA
First pitch is set for 7:05.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
