Pittsburgh Pirates: Brilliant Start by JT Brubaker Wasted in Loss

The Pittsburgh Pirates narrowly avoided being no-hit as they dropped the first game of their three-game weekend series in the Twin Cities

This nine-game three-city road trip has been kind to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Through the first six games of the trip the Pirates owned a 4-2 record, picking up series victories over both the Milwaukee Brewers and Detroit Tigers.

Friday night the final series of the road trip began with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Minnesota Twins playing the first of their three-game weekend series at Target Field. After failing to record a hit until the 8th inning, the Pirates were defeated by the Twins 2-0. With the loss, the Bucs are now 9-11 on the season.

Pirates Threaten in the 8th After Previously Being Hitless

Through the first 7.1 innings of the game former Pirate J.A. Happ held his former club without a hit. He had issued a pair of walks, and was aided by home plate umpire Jose Navas somehow calling Wilmer Difo out of the baseline on what would have been a hit.

With 1 out in the 8th inning Jacob Stallings stepped to the plate stuck in an 0-for-19 rut. After battling the veteran Happ, Stallings turned on a ball and ripped it into the left field corner. This gave Stallings a double and the Pirates their first hit of the game.

Following the Stallings double Happ was pulled. Difo then put together a strong at-bat to draw a walk, giving the Pittsburgh Pirates runners on first and second with just one out. Unfortunately, the struggling Kevin Newman grounded out before Adam Frazier struck out to end the threat.

Other than the 8th inning the only other time the Pirates threatened was in the 2nd inning. Erik González walked with one out and then Stallings drew a two-out walk. Difo then hit a drive to left field that off the bat looked like a potential 3-run home run, but the ball died on the warning track a step in front of the left field wall for a fly out to end the inning.

JT Brubaker Stays Hot

The first full MLB season of JT Brubaker‘s career continues to be off a stellar start. Friday night he kept a strong Minnesota lineup off balance throughout the night. He continued to flash a plus slider, pairing it with a plus fastball to generate chases and whiffs throughout the start.

Brubaker allowed just 5 hits in 7 innings of work. He did not walk a batter and struck out 5. However, he did allow a pair of solo home runs, leading to him allowing 2 runs in his 7 innings of work.

On the season Brubaker now owns a 2.01 ERA, 5.5% walk rate and a 25.2% strikeout rate in 22.1 innings of work. If Brubaker can continue to pitch anywhere near the level he has thus far this season he will cement himself as a building block in the Pirate starting rotation moving forward.

Through the first month of the season one of the biggest bright spots for the Pittsburgh Pirates has been Brubaker. He has proven why he was once the Pirate Minor League Pitcher of the Year and appears to be hammering down a long-term rotation spot with the Bucs.

What’s Next?

The second game of this three-game series is scheduled for 2:10 PM EST on Saturday afternoon. Trevor Cahill (9.69 ERA, 3.17 FIP) will make his fourth start with the Pirates and will be looking to bounce back from a disastrous outing against the Brewers in his most recent start. Veteran righty Michael Pineda (1.00 ERA, 3.15 FIP) is scheduled to toe the rubber for the Twins.