The difference between a team with power hitters and team without them was never more evident than the past four days at PNC Park.
The Cardinals hit for plenty of power, belting 12 home runs among their 25 extra-base hits. The Pirates homered just twice and had 12 hits for extra bases.
Whether you love or hate the way the game of baseball has evolved at the major-league level in recent years, a team better be able to hit the ball out of the park. Otherwise, it is a steep uphill climb for teams not capable of consistently providing instant offense.
The Cardinals swept the series, finishing it off Thursday afternoon with a 6-3 victory that included three home runs in a two-inning span off Joe Musgrove. The second-half freefall continued for the Pirates (46-56) as they dropped a season-worst 10 games under .500 with their fifth consecutive loss, and fell to 2-11 since the All-Star break.
Simply put, the Pirates were overpowered by the Cardinals (55-47), who pulled into a first-place tie with the Cubs in the National League Central. The skid has dropped the Pirates into last place and nine games off the Cubs’ and Cardinals' pace, seemingly assuring them of a 27th consecutive season without a division title since winning the NL East in 1992.
The Cardinals used the long ball to break open Thursday’s game. The Pirates were down just 2-1 when Paul Goldschmidt led off the fourth inning with a home run. One out later, Kolten Wong went deep.
An inning after that, Dexter Fowler launched a two-run shot and the Cardinals’ 6-1 lead was too much for the punchless Pirates to overcome.
If you needed any more evidence of how important home runs are in today’s game, there it is. Not only were the Pirates homerless Thursday but managed only one extra-base hit, an RBI double by Starling Marte in the sixth inning.
“That’s the hard part,” Clint Hurdle said when I asked how difficult it is to complete with a team hitting so many home runs. “They’ve been banging the ball and have been on fire from top to bottom. You don’t want (your hitters) to overreach in that situation, but it’s hard. We’re just trying to stay steadfast with our abilities. We’re not a home run-hitting team but we’ve shown the ability to hit them and score some runs.”
The home runs were part of a bad outing by Musgrove (7-9), who allowed six runs (five earned) and seven hits in five innings. He had compiled a 2.20 ERA in his previous six starts.
“My command wasn’t as good as it has been and I made too many bad pitches with runners on base, and that was the story of the day,” Musgrove said. “I allowed too much damage and put (the team) in way too big of a hole.”
Musgrove said the key for the Cardinals was that they took away his slider, laying off the pitch that continually was just off the edge of the strike zone rather than chasing it. However, St. Louis was indiscriminate on the pitches it hit out of the park.
Goldschmidt’s homer came off a changeup, Wong hit a curveball and Fowler connected on a sinker. It was as if Musgrove nearly pitched for the home-run cycle.
However, that’s the way it was for pretty much every member of the pitching staff in all four games.
“Absolutely, they’re swinging the bats really well right now,” Musgrove said. “It seems every mistake out over the plate, they did damage on. We knew that coming in. But regardless of whether a team is swinging the bats well or not doesn’t mean you go out there with less intensity or try not to hit your spots. It’s just that guys who are swinging the bats well aren’t going to miss pitches when you make a mistake.”
It’s even harder to overcome those miscues when you don’t have the offensive ability to quickly counter.
The Pirates have hit 105 home runs in 102 games this season, barely more than one a game. They are 27th among the 30 major-league teams in homers going into Thursday’s play and ahead of just the Royals (100), Tigers (89) and Marlins (81). All three of those teams have worse records than the Pirates.
The Twins top the majors with 194 home runs, nearly double the Pirates’ total. They lead the American League Central.
Power hitters cost money. Consider the price tags of the three Cardinals who homered Thursday: Goldschmidt signed a five-year, $130-million contract extension during spring training that takes effect next season, Fowler is in the middle of a five-year, $82.5-million deal and Wong is in the fourth season of a five-year, $25.5-million contract — that's $47.6 million for three hitters. For comparison, the Pirates' opening-day payroll for their entire 25-man roster in 2019 was just over $73 million.
Not to go on an anti-Bob Nutting screed here – I’ll leave that to the commenters – but you must pay for power. In turn, power pays off in wins. Conversely, teams without power usually find themselves at the bottom of the standings, especially in today’s game.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE INJURIES
• Clay Holmes (10-day IL, triceps)
• Steven Brault (10-day IL, shoulder)
• Gregory Polanco (10-day IL, shoulder)
• Francisco Cervelli (60-day IL, concussion)
• Rookie Davis (10-day IL, forearm)
• Jameson Taillon (60-day IL, elbow)
• Erik Gonzalez (60-day IL, hamstring)
• Lonnie Chisenhall (60-day IL, calf)
Here's the most recent full report.
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates and Mets open a three-game series at 7:10 p.m. Friday at Citi Field in New York with Dario Agrazal (2-0, 2.25) opposing Zack Wheeler (6-6, 4.69). Agrazal has had no-decisions in his last two starts, despite allowing only one run in six innings in each. Wheeler is scheduled to be activated from the injured list after being out since July 12 with right shoulder fatigue.
DK will be on the coverage for the entire series.
THE COVERAGE
All our expanded baseball coverage, including Indy Watch by Matt Welch, Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, and Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, can be found on our team page.
