Four-Run 2nd Inning Sinks Pittsburgh Pirates in 5-2 Loss

A home run and an error in the bottom of the 2nd inning proved to be the Pittsburgh Pirates undoing in a 5-2 loss against the Brewers

Tuesday night the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to avenge a 6-1 loss on Monday night in Milwaukee. Unfortunately, this was not the case as for the second night in a row the Bucs fell to the Brew Crew.

Following the loss the Pirates dip back below .500 on the season at 5-6. It was a weird game at American Family Field. Even though the Pirates collected more hits than the Brewers a costly error and two big Brewer blasts proved to be too much to overcome.

Bottom of the 2nd inning sinks the Pirates, Brubaker pitches better than his final line

In Monday night’s loss, it was a dreadful bottom of the 4th inning that sunk the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tuesday night it was the bottom of the 2nd inning that proved to be the undoing for the Pirates.

Starting pitcher JT Brubaker missed a spot to Brewer first baseman Rowdy Tellez and hung a pitch that Tellez launched for a 2-run home run to give them a 2-0 lead. This was not the end of the Pirate woes.

With two outs in the inning Kevin Newman made a questionable decision to make a 360 spin on a throw to first base. The throw pulled Yoshi Tsutsugo off the base resulting in a two-out throwing error by Newman. After Brubaker issued a walk, long-time Pirate killer Kolten Wong blooped a 2-run double into right field. This made the score 4-0 Milwaukee.

The bottom of the 2nd inning proved to be the difference in the game. It also led to Brubaker’s final line looking worse than it was. While it was his best start of the season thus far, Brubaker was charged with 4 runs (2 earned) on just 2 hits, 2 walks, the Tellez home run and a season-high 6 strikeouts in 5 innings pitched.

Brubaker retired the final 10 batters he faced. Had it not been for the Newman error leading to extra pitches being thrown, Brubaker may have been able to give the Pirates another inning as well.

Solo home runs not enough for the Pirate offense

While the Pittsburgh Pirates out hit the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night it was not enough offense for the Bucs. Both Pirate runs came via solo home runs, but their inability to put together any multi-run innings led to just the 2 runs.

Designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach hit a 420-foot solo blast off of Corbin Burnes in the 6th inning. One inning after Vogelbach hit his 2nd home run of the season, second baseman Josh VanMeter hit his 1st home run of the season and as a Pirate to cut the Brewer lead to 4-2.

The Pirates became the first team since the Atlanta Braves in May 2019 to hit two home runs in a game off of Brunes, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner. However, outside of the two solo blasts, Burnes was in complete control as he struck out 10 and did not walk a batter in 7 innings pitched.

Other notes

As we said above it was a weird game. Take away the Newman error and this likely would have been a completely different game. Factor in Newman’s .200/.273/.367 slash line through his first 33 plate appearances, and, well, the calls for Oneil Cruz are not going to quiet down any time soon.

Roansy Contreras continues to look like a future frontline starting pitcher while working out the Pirate bullpen. In 3 innings pitched Contreras retired 9 of the 10 batters he faced while striking out 5. The lone base runner he allowed was a lead off home run to Hunter Renfroe in the 7th inning. In fact, the Renfroe home run was the lone base runner the Brewers had after the 2nd inning.

While Contreras will almost assuredly be optioned back to Triple-A either when Sam Howard returns from the injured list or when active rosters go back to 26 players at the end of April, having him on the major league roster and not making starts is a dumb decision by the Pirates. If all goes according to plan he is their future ace. Plus, to be honest, he is already their best starting pitcher, and by a wide margin.

The third and final game of the series is scheduled for 1:40 PM ET on Wednesday afternoon. Looking to avoid being swept the Pirates will send Mitch Keller (9.39 ERA, 4.66 FIP) who is in dire need of a strong start to the mound. The Brewers will counter with hard-throwing righty Brandon Woodruff (7.27 ERA, 4.25 FIP).