The Pittsburgh Pirates are constantly looking for new ways to lose, and Richard Rodriguez delivered one that was outside the zone.
After hitting Jonathan Schoop with a pitch, Rodriguez lost control of the ball and threw one that sailed in the direction of the home team. When hunter John Ryan Murphy chased after it, Schoop stepped up to second on the field and stepped in to score.
Miguel Cabrera singled to the left to score Schoop to lift the Detroit Tigers to a 2-1 victory over the Pirates on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park to sweep their three-game series.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton said Rodriguez picked up his spike on the mound, calling it a ‘freak play’ that became costly in a game where pitching was otherwise a bright spot.
‘I’ve seen boys catch their spikes. I’ve seen boys catch their spikes with rounds on second and third, bases loaded. It’s just one of those things that happened. It’s a freak play. It’s a shame it happened at the time, especially since Richie threw the ball. ”
It could be the last game for a few days for the Pirates (3-13), whose road trip to St. Louis is in danger due to a covid-19 outbreak at the Cardinals. The Pirates canceled their flight to St. Louis on Sunday night, postponing Monday’s game and putting out whether they will question Tuesday night’s and Wednesday afternoon games.
With Joe Musgrove scratched due to pain in his right ankle, Steven Brault got the start just two days after allowing four runs on three hits and three walks without registering an out. Brault said when Shelton jokingly asked if he was available on Saturday that Brault said he would be ready on Sunday if needed.
“And then it happened,” Brault said. “Yeah, it was some fluid thing, I think, (an) organic, if you will, decision.”
This time, Brault grabbed two scoreless innings, with one walk, one hit bat and one strikeout.
‘I set zeros last time. I got zero outs, ”Brault said. “That it was fun to do the opposite of this time.”
Chris Stratton replaced Brault in the third, knocking out six of the first eight fighters he faced. Stratton grabbed three innings, making three hits and the game-bound in the fifth round.
“Honestly, we hope to get two innings out of him because he was not extended,” Shelton said. ‘He came back after the second and was really good. We could go back and get ourselves that third inning. The innings he and Brault gave us, if you do not have a starter for the day, I can not talk enough about how they did it. ”
Stratton said Shelton shot him down “pretty fast” earlier this season over throwing an extra inning, so he did not intend to give up the chance.
‘They asked me how I felt. I always want someone else, “said Stratton.” I’m sure they are not surprised that I said yes, but every time I hit again, I always want to go the extra mile. … That I’m happy that he gave me another one. ”
Detroit starter Spencer Turnbull gave up one run on five hits, hitting four while running two. Turnbull kept the Pirates out of balance, bounced back to their left-hand clubs and forced 11 groundouts.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Erik Gonzalez was recognized with an RBI single when his bouncer shot to second from Schoop’s glove and Colin Moran scored. It was the 11thth hit in 22 at-bats for Gonzalez.
Stratton gave up a double to Victor Reyes, followed by Austin Romine’s RBI single to center to ban the game in the fifth. The Tigers then scored the lead on Cabrera’s single off Rodriguez in the eighth.
The Pirates got a two-out rally in the eighth when Josh Bell hit a two-out single and Colin Moran pulled a run from the Buck Farmer in the eighth, but Bryan Reynolds grounded out to finish first first. . Joe Jimenez knocked out Gonzalez and Jarrod Dyson in the ninth to earn the save.
“We had a couple of chances to score,” Shelton said, “and just didn’t get the big hit.”
Kevin Gorman is a staff writer for Tribune Review. You can contact Kevin via email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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