The Pirates' ship is taking on water -- fast. And the faster Clint Hurdle bails, the faster the water seems to rush in.
They lost again to Arizona, 3-0, Sunday at PNC Park to finish off a forgettable homestand with just three wins in nine games, including dropping all four to the Diamondbacks.
How bad was the homestand?
Against the Diamondbacks, the Pirates managed a meager six runs, capped off by the shutout before an announced crowd of 19,207. Over the course of the nine games -- three against Cincinnati and two against Milwaukee -- Pittsburgh scored a total of 24 runs, half of which came in back-to-back games against the Reds.
Now, it's on to New York Monday to kick off a whirlwind nine-game road trip that also will take them to San Diego and Los Angeles, not exactly the perfect elixir for a struggling team.
"We're going to keep playing. The season's not going to stop. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us," Hurdle said following this latest loss. "The guys in here are working hard to get better. We haven't gotten better. Some are watching tape. Some are taking swings. Some are trying to make minor adjustments. None of it has transferred into the games just yet, but that's what we're going to keep working on. We'll close the book on this one, go to New York and face (Seth) Lugo and try to get something done. I'll kind of rearrange some things with the staff, talk about some things and get ready to play."
TAP ABOVE FOR BOXSCORE, STANDINGS, VIDEORearranging stuff right now, however, might be like shifting sun chairs on the deck of the Titanic. The Pirates are sinking that fast. With Sunday's loss, they have now dropped 24 of their last 34 games. With just six games remaining in June, Sunday's loss also assures them of a losing record for the month. The Pirates are now 7-14 in June, a far cry from the team that went 17-12 in April.
"The same guys who threw some big numbers up early are not doing it now. We're capable," Hurdle said. "We've got to get the swings in place, the confidence in place. It can be contagious. One guy can light a spark, but I don't think everybody needs to be the guy."
But they do need to be consistent hitters. And that's what the Pirates are lacking right now.
They failed to advance a runner past second base Sunday and never had more than one baserunner on at any time. To make matters worse, they hit into double plays in the eighth and ninth innings, including this one by Sean Rodriguez, who made his third consecutive start, this one in place of shortstop Jordy Mercer:
Hurdle said he thought about pinch-hitting for Rodriguez with Josh Bell on first, but opted against it even though the struggling utility player had struck out twice earlier in the game and saw his batting average dip to .145.
"We talked about it. I'm trying to keep Mercer off his feet based on the number of games he's played," Hurdle said. "So if Sean comes out, Mercer goes in. If we tie the game and go out and play 17 innings -- which has happened to me before, it's the only reason I bring it up -- there goes the guy you were giving the day off to. We were going to hit if there were two men on and an opportunity to tie the game. But not in that situation."
The Pirates never got themselves into "that situation" because they just couldn't hit Arizona starter Clay Buchholz and three relievers. Buchholz allowed just two hits in five innings -- on 53 pitches, 42 of which were strikes -- before leaving with tightness in his left side.
But it didn't matter because the Pirates (36-41) managed just three hits in the final four innings and hit into those two double plays, the last of which was a game-ender by Starling Marte.
It wasted what was a solid effort by Pirates' starter Trevor Williams (6-5), who settled down after a rough start to allow three runs on five hits with six strikeouts in six innings.
The damage was done to Williams early, as the Diamondbacks (43-33) had four hits in the first two innings, two of which were home runs, including this two-run bomb to right field by David Peralta.
"Unfortunately, it was the difference in the game," Williams said. "Really, the pitch to Peralta, I didn't think was a bad pitch. If anything, it was a dangerous pitch to the kind of hitter he is. I thought we backed him off enough to get a slider in there, but he's a good hitter and he stayed in there and hit it pretty good."
John Ryan Murphy then connected on the first pitch of the second inning on a long homer to left field and 17 pitches into his outing, Williams looked like he would be in for a short day.
But he rebounded after that, giving up just two more hits over his final four innings.
"Your job as a starting pitcher is to keep the game within reach," Williams said. "You do everything you can. When teams do get a couple of runs on you early, you really do have to put the foot down. We had a short bullpen today and I take pride in trying to save the bullpen on a short bullpen day. Unfortunately, those three runs were the ones that were the difference."
Three runs shouldn't be enough to win. But given the way the Pirates are swinging the bats, three runs might as well be 30.
It's been that bad.
But Hurdle insists he's not seeing any frustration.
"I don't see it in the conversations I'm having," Hurdle said. "I would say frustration from the fact we're not playing better. We're not winning games. As far as angst or anger? None of that. The game is hard sometimes. We're having to develop some mental and physical toughness to get through this. The one thing you don't do is pick scabs or pick at people. You try to honestly self-evaluate yourself. Everybody in there can get a little bit better and we'll be better as a team. That has to be the focus. Starting with me."
1. Holmes stepped up.
With the short bullpen Williams made reference to, the Pirates needed another arm, especially with Michael Feliz experiencing some shoulder inflammation. So the team called up Clay Holmes from Indianapolis.
Holmes, who had been with the Pirates briefly earlier this season, arrived in Pittsburgh at 11 a.m. and replaced Williams in the seventh inning. He issued a leadoff walk to Murphy in the seventh, nearly hitting him in the head with a 3-2 pitch, but then got Chris Owings to hit into a double play. He then pitched a clean eighth inning, as well.
"This was my start day. They called me up here and I figured they would probably need some innings," Holmes told me. "The situation came and they needed some innings and I was able to go out and help the team.
"I made some good pitches. But I fell behind and walked the guy. It felt pretty good and confident. I knew if I could get the ball on the ground, it would be a double play to erase that. That's what ended up happening."
Holmes, 25, has been hot of late at Indianapolis, allowing two earned runs in his past four starts, a span of 25 1/3 innings. That's lowered his ERA from just over 5.00 to its current 3.39, which earned him the callup.
"The main thing is I've been pitching to my strengths," Holmes said. "My best pitches are feeding off each other. I've been getting ahead in the count with all my pitches. The execution has been there and the results have, too."
2. S-Rod's struggle goes on.
Hurdle and Neal Huntington both said they wanted to give Rodriguez an opportunity to play a bit more this weekend to get other players rest while seeing if a string of at bats would help the veteran out of a year-long slump.
"Sean is a consummate professional and Sean cares about helping his team win as much as anyone in the clubhouse," Huntington said. "We still see the tools to be able to do that. We still need to rest our regulars. Sean has worked hard in the tunnels. I get that nobody wants to hear that. The question is, how do you let that period of adjustment play into a game again? This sequence of games allowed Sean to get a cluster of at-bats while allowing Josh (Harrison) and one of our outfielders an off-day. We understand. And Sean understands. Sean wants to help this team win games. We're working hard to help Sean be as valuable to us on the field as he is to us off the field."
But after going 0-3 with two strikeouts and hitting into a double play Sunday, Rodriguez finished his three-game stretch of starts 0-7 with a walk and four strikeouts. That dropped his season average to .145 and he's now hitting just .155 since returning to the team last season via a trade with Atlanta.
3. Is Bell heating up?
Bell's batting average dipped to a season-low .233 on June 9. Since then, however, he has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, going 12-for-37, and he's reached base safely in 14-straight games.
Bell had two singles in three at bats Sunday, both on singles up the middle, raising his average to .248. That's still not where the Pirates would like it, and he hasn't homered since May 31, but he's hardly the only player who is struggling right now.
Bell has just four homers this season, though his 37 RBI lead the team.
"It comes down to a timing issue," Hurdle said. "What's starting your timing? It starts with a thought. We've talked with Josh. What is your first thought? What do you need to do to put yourself into the best hitting position? Right now, he's gone closer together (with his feet). He's going straight up and down. We've seen sequences where a little more width has been more beneficial. But he's the one in the box. He owns his stance. He owns his swing."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Pirates vs. Diamondbacks, PNC Park, June 24, 2018. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS