Daniel Hudson had leverage against the hottest hitter in Major League Baseball, yet he had every reason to approach with caution.
Giants catcher Buster Posey — with a league-best .340 average — was at the plate with runners on second and third in the 11th inning with the score tied. Up 0-2 in the count, Hudson wanted to keep the ball low in the zone.
Worst-case scenario, walking Posey wouldn't be all that bad, Hudson thought. One errant pitch and Elias Diaz's inability to block it, though, allowed the Giants to score the eventual winning run to edge the Pirates 2-1 on Saturday evening at PNC Park.
Beyond sending the Pirates to 37-44, now six games behind first-place Milwaukee at the season's midway point, the critical mistake overshadowed what could have been a possible breakthrough for Chad Kuhl.
"It just didn’t go our way tonight," Hudson said afterward.
The loss stung even more for Hudson -- and an offense that stranded 15 runners -- because of what Kuhl had accomplished.
Kuhl threw six innings for the first time since April 18, allowing only one run on two hits while striking out three. The right-hander had a no-hitter until the Giants' No. 8 hitter, Austin Slater, hit a solo home run to lead off the sixth.
"He deserved that win," Josh Bell said. "It was a tough loss, but what a good outing."
Kuhl's ability to locate his four-seam fastball inside to both right- and left-handers allowed him more freedom with his two-seam fastball and made his breaking pitches more deceptive.
One game after Gerrit Cole was tagged for seven runs, Kuhl showed that reinventing himself may have been the right decision.
Relying mostly on his two-seam fastball last season, Kuhl has started throwing more four-seam fastballs. He threw twice as many four-seamers as two-seamers Saturday night, and added a curveball to his arsenal earlier this season.
Reinventing himself led to a 5.81 ERA in May, as his four-seam fastball was often elevated and he struggled to fool hitters with his curveball outside the zone, but he has a 3.81 ERA over his past five starts.
"Last year it was probably 90 percent two-seamers," Kuhl said. "Having something guys can’t sell out, sell out to over the plate to the two-seamer. I can keep them honest with the four-seamer."
Tony Watson and Juan Nicasio each pitched a scoreless inning, and Felipe Rivero was perfect in the ninth and 10th while striking out three. With the offense failing to cash in on the Giants' bullpen, Hudson entered in the 11th.
He began the inning with a strikeout, but walked Denard Span on five pitches, failing to locate a four-seam fastball on the inside corner. Diaz was then unable to catch a slider while trying to frame it for a strike, allowing Span to take second base.
Panik followed with a single to left. Posey fell behind 0-2 before working the count full when Hudson threw this slider that bounced in the dirt:
"I don’t know," Diaz said. "I did my best. I missed it. It happened. That’s the game."
Hudson said: "If I was going to get beat right there I was going to get beat with the best pitch against a right-hander for me this year, which is my slider. I was just trying to make a good, quality pitch. If I walk him, I walk him. I just got a little bit too much bite on it and it kicked."
All the way into the third-base dugout. That allowed Span to score, giving the Giants a lead they would not relinquish. It cost the Pirates a chance at possibly winning the series, now dropping the first two games against a last-place opponent that is 19 games under .500.
Although Kuhl finally got through six innings, it looked like his 15th start of the season might last only one batter. Span's one-hopper to lead off the first inning drilled Kuhl on his left wrist, sending him to the ground in pain. He was briefly examined by Todd Tomczyk before retiring 14 of the next 15 batters he faced, including this curveball to strike out Ryder Jones to end the fifth inning:
His no-hitter was spoiled by the solo home run — which Andrew McCutchen nearly robbed with a leap at the wall — and Span doubled later in the inning, but Kuhl finished the sixth with a strikeout.
That would end his outing and though he received a no-decision, the impact reaching the seventh inning was immeasurable for Kuhl.
"Huge. Being able to the throw the curveball and get the feedback; be able to throw the four-seamer and get that feedback," Kuhl said. "It feels really good to get the results from it."
Kuhl is now 2-6 with a 5.26 ERA and a WHIP of 1.572, but the 23-year-old is discovering how to utilize an arsenal that is far different from a year ago.
"He wants to pitch deeper into games," Hurdle said. "He put himself into position to do that today. ... Proud of his effort today. A really nice mix of pitches. Secondary pitches played well for him. The slider and the changeup. he sprinkled in some curveballs. Really good outing."
LANCE’S THREE THOUGHTS
• Josh Bell is emerging as a trustworthy first baseman. Sure, he’s bound to make some youthful mistakes — such as his error in the third inning Friday night — but all of the work he’s done in the field is starting to show.
He’s no longer a liability late in games and is beginning to flash some athleticism at the position, which the Pirates have lacked for quite some time.
Bell made an impressive catch on a line drive hit by Posey in the third inning, not flinching as the ball came flying towards his head. He simply lifted his glove up and made the catch.
With a runner on first and no outs in the third, Slater slashed a hard-hit grounder toward the hole between Bell and Harrison, but Bell dove to his right to make the stop and quickly recovered to throw to Kuhl at first for the out:
Bell now has a .992 fielding percentage with five errors this season, and his defensive runs saved is up to plus-1 after sitting at minus-5 last season. He played just 23 games at first base in 2016, and it’s clear that experience is leading to results.
"I'm getting a ton of reps in every day, so it’s cool to see it work out on the field, especially after yesterday," Bell told me. "It’s cool to have a couple nicer plays for me to bounce back and continue to find my way over there."
• While Bell has shown he belongs, Max Moroff has done the opposite.
The 24-year-old second baseman has now played in 17 games with the Pirates this season, and started his second game at shortstop Saturday with Jordy Mercer getting the day off.
He went 0 for 5, flying out after Gregory Polanco hit a lead off double in the fourth, grounding out with runners on first and second in the sixth, and striking out in the eighth.
Moroff is now 3 for 36 this season with 14 strikeouts and only three walks with four RBI. He has a .216 on-base percentage, and that should not come as a surprise.
He struggled with plate discipline throughout his minor-league career, but his power surge through April and May — 13 home runs to lead the International League — earned him a second promotion. He had struck out 48 times in 160 at-bats with Indianapolis.
The Pirates hoped he’d provide more offense off the bench, but he has been far from an improvement over Gift Ngoepe.
"It’s a little different," Moroff said of his role since being called up. "That’s not the reason why I’m not doing well. It’s just a different situation, I guess. I’m not going to tell you excuses or anything. I’m not making excuses. I’m not putting the barrel on the ball. That’s why I’m not doing well."
• Situational hitting continues to be a problem for the Pirates.
They had only seven hits and could not capitalize on the Giants' pitchers walking 10 batters. Matt Moore issued three consecutive two-out walks in the first, but Diaz grounded out to Moore to end the threat.
The Pirates stranded two more runners in the third, and Josh Harrison struck out with the bases loaded in the sixth. Giants reliever Hunter Strickland walked three consecutive batters to load the bases with two outs in the ninth, but Diaz struck out looking to send it to extra innings.
This is a familiar problem for the Pirates. They are batting .197 with the bases loaded this season — the fourth-worst mark in the majors — and just .250 with runners in scoring position.
ON DECK
The Pirates wrap up the three-game series and their final homestead before the All-Star break with Trevor Williams on the mound. Williams is making his 11th start, and pitched into the eighth inning Tuesday night, but received a no-decision in the Pirates’ 4-2 win.
He allowed two runs on six hits and struck out seven.
Former Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardzija will start for the Giants, carrying a 3-9 record with a 4.63 ERA.
