Pittsburgh Pirates Lose to the Brewers and Continue to Slide

The Pittsburgh Pirates are now just 1-11 in their last 12 games

The old saying goes ‘when it rains, it pours.’ Right now, it is a monsoon for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After losing to the Milwaukee Brewers by a score of 3-0 on Monday night, the Pirates have lost 10 of their last 11 games. This slide knocks the Bucs to 68-83 on the season.

During this 11 game stretch the Pirates have scored just 22 runs. On Monday night the Bucs were shut out once again and also made some horrific baserunning blunders.

Looking to once again find the consistency he had the first four months of the season, Jameson Taillon started for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. Through the first five innings of the game Taillon was pitching a great game. He had allowed just four hits, one walk, and the lone run he had allowed came on a Ryan Braun solo home run in the fourth inning.

In the top of the sixth inning, Taillon would run into trouble. Pinch-hitter Jonathan Villar doubled to start the inning, Eric Sogard singled to put runners on the corners with no one out, and then Neil Walker singled home Villar. This made the score 2-0 Brewers and brought Taillon’s night to an end.

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A.J. Schugel was then called upon to clean up the mess Taillon created and he would do just that. Schugel got Ryan Braun to ground out to third base which led to Sogard being thrown out at the plate for the first out of the inning. Then, Schugel struck out Travis Shaw and got Eric Thames to fly out to center field to end the inning keeping the score at 2-0.

Jameson Taillon pitched into the sixth inning on Monday night and allowed two runs on six hits, a solo home run, a walk, and four strikeouts. While Taillon did not necessarily struggle on Monday night, he did not exactly pitch well either.

For the Brewers, left-handed pitcher Brent Suter made the start. In his last start against the Bucs Suter lasted just three innings. On Monday night, however, he had much more success.

In five scoreless innings pitched on Monday night Suter allowed just five hits, he did not walk a batter, and he struck out four. Other than back-to-back singles from Andrew McCutchen and David Freese in the bottom of the first inning, and an infield hit form Taillon and a line single from McCutchen in the bottom of the fourth inning Suter was never in any type of trouble on Monday night.

In the top of the seventh inning Edgar Santana entered the game for the Pirates. Santana struck out a pair of batters and issued a four-pitch walk in a scoreless inning of work. He was also able to remain in the game despite what at the time appeared to be some sort of oblique issue.

The Milwaukee lead grew to 3-0 off of George Kontos in the top of the eighth inning. With one out and two men on base, Travis Shaw hit a ground ball that shortstop Jordy Mercer failed to field. What should have been an error on Mercer was recorded a RBI single by Shaw, scored Neil Walker, and made the score 3-0 Brewers.

After the Pirate offense continued to scuffle and was retired in order in the bottom of the eighth inning, Johnny Barbato was tabbed to pitch the top of the ninth inning. After Barbato pitched a scoreless inning, the Pirates faced one of the best relievers in the National League in Corey Knebel in the bottom of the ninth inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning Gregory Polanco singled. For some reason, Polanco attempted to stretch his single into a double. Polanco was then thrown out at second base to end the game in a 3-0 Brewer victory.

Next: Recapping the 2017 Bristol Pirates

Game two of this three-game series is set to be played on Tuesday night. Trevor Williams will start for the Pirates while the Brewers hand the ball to Chase Anderson. First pitch from PNC Park is scheduled for 7:05.

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