PHOENIX -- Clint Hurdle kept insisting he wasn’t worried about Joe Musgrove and so did the big right-hander’s teammates. Musgrove himself also was adamant he was not concerned.
It didn’t matter that Musgrove had two horrendous starts to begin May after an outstanding April. Everyone in the Pirates’ camp felt he would get back on track soon.
Musgrove showed Tuesday night that the faith was justified as he allowed only one hit in seven scoreless innings to pitch the Pirates to a 6-2 victory against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. The Pirates (21-18) won for the fourth time in five games.
The month of May had not been very merry for Musgrove. In his first two starts, he allowed 15 runs (13 earned), 12 hits and seven walks in just 5 2/3 innings. That came after an April where he had a sparkling 1.64 ERA in five starts.
It was also a much-needed bounceback for the Pirates, who need some stability in the rotation now that opening-day starter Jameson Taillon will be out at least through the end of June with a right elbow flexor tendon strain. The Pirates will get Chris Archer back Wednesday afternoon when he will come off the injuries and pitch the finale of the three-game series against the Diamondbacks after being out since April 27 with right thumb inflammation.
Musgrove (2-4) credited a small mechanical adjustment to his delivery for helping turn things around. However, Hurdle felt the way the Pirates did not panic over Musgrove’s rough patch contributed to his success.
“We don’t overreact here,” Hurdle said. “I think you react accordingly to situations. You want to be proactive instead of just reactive. Joe knows himself pretty well. He knew the quality of pitches he was making, and he knew the mistakes he was making that were getting hit.
“We keep it loose here. We give (the players) the freedom to play and a chance to self-evaluate. He’s done a good job of self-evaluating ever since he’s been here.”
Once he self-evaluated, Musgrove concluded that he needed to tweak his pitching mechanics. The move worked.
“I did a lot of work this week of really focusing in when I was playing catch and throwing my bullpen of where I am in my delivery and where I’m transferring my power and being more efficient in exerting the power,” Musgrove said. “Sometimes you try to do more and you get less and tonight I tried to do less and let the power come to me.”
The change helped Musgrove regain the velocity that has been missing from his fastball all year after undergoing offseason abdominal surgery. He averaged a season-best 92.7 mph with the heater as he struck out five and walked two in a 75-pitch outing. The Diamondbacks’ lone hit off him was a leadoff single by David Peralta in the fourth inning.
“My mentality has been the same, even when I haven’t pitched well, and that’s being aggressive, but I just hadn’t been executing pitches very well lately,” Musgrove said. “I came out with a really good fastball tonight and (Elias) Diaz did the right thing by wanting to change speeds and elevate the fastball, and the exaction was there. It turned out to be a much better product.”
Musgrove has already won a World Series game with the Astros and established himself as a promising starting pitcher with the Pirates during his four years in the major leagues. However, he admitted to me that sometimes an athlete still needs to enjoy some success to reaffirm his belief in himself:
Musgrove was also very efficient with his pitches, averaging just 10.5 an inning. However, Hurdle pulled him after the seventh despite having a shutout going.
“You can kick that around all you want,” Hurdle said of his decision. “To me, it was the perfect number of pitches. Seven ups are still seven ups regardless of the pitch count. It made no sense to go any further.”
Although Musgrove said he felt strong enough to pitch what would have been his first complete game in the big leagues, he didn’t argue with his manager.
“I respect the decision,” he said.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GOOD
Josh Bell’s torrid stretch continues, as he hit two long home runs and drove in the Pirates’ first four runs.
"He's just mauling the ball," Hurdle said.
Bell broke a scoreless tie when his fielder’s choice grounder plated a run in the third inning.
In the fifth, he belted a fastball from Luke Weaver 446 feet to dead center field with a 110-mph exit velocity:
Three innings later, Bell smoked a sinker from Zack Godley over the fence in right-center field for his 12th home run of the year, matching his total from last season. The second homer traveled 460 feet. The exit velocity was again 110 mph:
It also marked Bell’s second career multi-homer game, the other coming May 4 against the Athletics at PNC Park. Bell extended his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games. He also has 39 RBIs, 22 more than anyone else on the team, as Starling Marte has 17.
"Just trying to sync up fastballs, get on a starter's fastball and understanding how guys are going to attack me and sell out to an approach and just go from there," Bell said. "It feels like I'm living in a dream a little bit."
Bell spent a good chunk of the winter in Los Angeles working with hitting guru Joe DeMarco. The switch-hitting first baseman is obviously pleased to see that work come to fruition this season as he told me:
The Pirates also got a third home run from Cole Tucker, who hit a two-run shot in the eighth inning to push the lead to 6-0:
It was a moment to remember for the rookie shortstop. Tucker was born and raised in the Phoenix area and got a sizable ovation from the crowd of 21,047.
“To have this happen at Chase Field/Bank One Ballpark, you don’t know how much that means to me because I was a big Diamondbacks fan and came to a lot of games here,” Tucker said. “To hear the support that I received meant so much. A lot of people have poured themselves into me. A lot of people care about me. A lot of people love me. I know how I’m blessed to have that.”
Tucker admitted he had a hard time controlling his emotions as he rounded the bases.
"It was nuts, man. I couldn't even play it cool. I tried to, but the 12-year-old in me came out and I was just smiling and cheesing and laughing," Tucker said. "Literally audibly laughing. I couldn't have drawn it up any better. I always dreamed about winning baseball games in this stadium."
THE BAD
Richard Rodriguez’s problems with the home run continue.
Rodriguez served up a solo shot to Carson Kelly with two outs in the eighth inning, ending the Pirates’ shutout bid. He has been tagged for seven homers in just 18 2/3 innings, an average of 3.38 per nine innings.
As a rookie last year, Rodriguez was taken deep just five times in 69 1/3 innings.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Diamondbacks didn't generate much offense until scoring single runs in the eighth and ninth. Manager Torey Lovullo attributed that to Musgrove's fine outing.
"We couldn't get anything going," Lovullo said. "Their starting pitcher was effective with early-count pitches and kind of beating us to the spot."
THE DATA
• The Pirates ended their nine-game losing streak against the Diamondbacks that dated to last season. It was also the Pirates' first win in six games against Arizona this season.
• Musgrove was the first Pirates pitcher to work seven or more innings and allow one hit or less since Trevor Williams against the Brewers on June 18, 2018, at PNC Park. It was also Musgrove's third game of the season in which he pitched at least six innings and allowed no runs.
• Bell's hitting streak is the longest by a Pirates player since Josh Harrison also had a 14-gamer from Aug. 12, 2016-April 8, 2017.
• Starling Marte went 3 for 5 with two doubles to run his hitting streak to nine games and raise his career batting average against the Diamondbacks to .338 in 34 games.
• Gregory Polanco extended his hitting streak to six games with a third-inning single.
THE INJURIES
• Jung Ho Kang, third baseman, was placed on the 10-day IL with a strained left side Tuesday.
• Chris Archer, right-hander, is on the 10-day IL with right thumb inflammation and is expected to be activated Wednesday and start the series finale.
• Corey Dickerson, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a strained right shoulder. He's hitting and throwing.
• Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder, is on the 10-day IL with a broken right hand. He will begin a rehab assignment Tuesday night with Indianapolis.
• Keone Kela, right-hander, is on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. He is hopeful of returning within a week.
• Jameson Taillon, right-hander, is on the 60-day IL with a strained right forearm flexor tendon. He will not throw until early June and cannot be activated until at least July 1.
• Jacob Stallings, catcher, is on the 10-day IL with a cervical neck strain. He's on a rehab assignment with Indianapolis.
• Nick Burdi, relief pitcher, out with right elbow/biceps pain caused by a nerve problem, is on the 60-day IL. He will not throw again until at least late June.
• Erik Gonzalez, shortstop, is on the 60-day IL with a fractured right clavicle. He won't return until at least mid-July.
THE SCHEDULE
The three-game series ends at 3:40 p.m Eastern time Wednesday with Archer (1-2, 4.33) facing Zack Greinke (5-1, 3.16). I will have the coverage. The clubhouse opens to the media at 12:30 p.m. and Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk will hold his weekly press briefing. Hurdle will not have his daily powwow with reporters, which has been custom before weekday afternoon games this season.
THE COVERAGE
All of our expanded baseball coverage, including Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, Indy Watch by Matt Welch and Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, can be found on our team page.
