Pittsburgh Pirates: 7th Inning Bullpen Implosion Leads to Loss in Arizona

Tuesday night the Pittsburgh Pirates appeared to be on their way to a victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks until the bullpen imploded in the 7th inning of an 11-6 loss

Baseball can be a funny sport. Entering pay on Monday the Pittsburgh Pirates were 7-4 in their previous 11 games. These 11 games came against two first place teams in the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Mets, as well as another postseason contender in the Atlanta Braves.

Riding this stretch of strong play the Pittsburgh Pirates kicked off a three-game series at Chase Field on Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks who have, by far, the worst record in baseball. With the Pirates playing well and the D-Backs being the worst team in baseball it appears the Bucs were in a good spot to continue their recent strong play.

Well, the Pirates kicked the series off with a 4-2 loss on Monday night. Then on Tuesday night the Pirates blew a 5-1 lead to suffer an 11-6 loss in the second game of the series. This loss drops the Pirates to 36-59 on the season.

Tyler Anderson battles to go 6 strong

Through his first 3 innings of the night Tyler Anderson was cruising for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Anderson retired the first 10 batters he faced before allowing a base hit with one out in the 4th inning.

In the 5th inning Anderson faced a bases loaded with just one out situation. After allowing a base hit that cut the Pirate lead to 5-2, Anderson induced an inning ending 1-2-3 double play to limit the damage.

Anderson would labor again in the 6th inning. However, as he did in the 5th inning, Anderson limited the damage. Anderson issued a walk to start the inning before allowing a run-scoring double to Christian Walker who would take third base on the throw home. With a runner on third, no one out and the Pirates leading 5-3, Anderson induced a pop out, ground out to third base and a fly out to escape the jam.

In 6 innings of work Anderson allowed 3 runs on 7 hits, a walk, no home runs allowed and 6 strikeouts. On the season the veteran lefty now owns a 4.35 ERA and a 4.27 FIP. With trade rumors swirling around Anderson and the MLB trade deadline just 10 days away and free agency looming this offseason, it is possible that this was Anderson’s final start with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Gregory Polanco starts the scoring

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a prime opportunity to take the lead in the top of the 3rd inning. Michael Perez doubled to start the inning and Anderson reached on a bunt single to put runners on the corners with no one out. The next three Pirate batters struck out, although this did include a foul tip by Adam Frazier that was largely bad luck.

With the game still scoreless entering the 4th inning John Nogowski, proving to be a rally starter, drew a walk with one out in the inning. This was followed by Gregory Polanco depositing Taylor Widener fastball into the right field seats to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.

Polanco’s 2-run blast was his 10th of the season. The 414-foot blast came after Polanco lined out to right-center field in his first at-bat on a ball he hit 95 MPH. Following that tough break his 2-run shot had to feel good for Polanco. The Pirates also had to like seeing Polanco’s blast as they will do all they can to trade Polanco before next Friday’s trade deadline and a strong next 10 days from the lefty slugger could create a market for him.

Nogowskimania is continuing to run wild, brother!

Over the weekend I wrote how John Nogowski is quickly becoming a cult hero among yinzers and Pirate fans far and wide. In Tuesday night’s game against the Diamondbacks, Nogowski’s legend continued to grow when he hit his first career home run.

With the Pirates leading 3-1 in the top of the 5th inning, Nogowski ran into a Widener pitch. 387 feet later the 95.6 MPH missile landed in the left field seats. The 2-run home run by Nogowski was the 1st of his MLB career and gave the Pirates a 5-1 lead.

On the night Nogowski was 2-3 with his home run and a walk. He is now hitting for a .333/.397/.439 slash line and a 133 wRC+ in 73 plate appearances this season.

Pirate bullpen implodes in the 7th inning

The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the 7th inning leading 5-3. Lefty Austin Davis was summoned from the bullpen to replace Anderson. Unfortunately, it did not take long for the wheels to start to fall off the Pirate cart.

To start the inning Davis issued a walk and this would be the start of a disastrous inning for the Pirates. Davis faced 5 batters, allowing a pair of hits and walking two Diamondback batters as well.

With the game tied at 5 and a pair of runners on base, Davis was lifted for Clay Holmes. Like Davis, Holmes walked the first batter he faced signaling what was to come as throughout much of his outing Holmes appeared to have absolutely no idea where the ball was going. When his pitches did find the strike zone, they were often times hit hard.

Holmes walked a pair and allowed 4 hits in 2/3 of an inning pitched. While he did strike out a pair, the righty would be charged with 4 runs. When the dust of the inning finally ended, Davis was charged with 4 runs as well.

After 31 hellacious minutes the 7th inning finally ended for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the inning Davis and Holmes combined to allow 8 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks. During the inning it was clear that Derek Shelton was leaving Holmes out there to finish it no matter what happened.

What’s next?

Wednesday afternoon young righty Max Kranick (3.38 ERA, 3.92 FIP) will start for the Pittsburgh Pirates as they look to salvage a game in this series. Veteran lefty Madison Bumgarner (5.35 ERA, 4.51 FIP) is scheduled to start for the Diamondbacks. First pitch form Chase Field is scheduled for 3:40 PM ET.