The Pirates' pitching set a franchise record Thursday night in the 7-1 loss to the Nationals at PNC Park.
And, as one might expect from that outcome, it wasn't a good one.
In the eighth inning, Washington's Howie Kendrick got a hold of a Chris Stratton fastball, launching it 417 feet into the left-field bleachers at an exit velocity just north of 110 mph.
In the ninth, also off Stratton, Anthony Rendon went even higher up into those same bleachers:
Those were the 184th and 185th home runs opponents have hit against Pirates pitching this year. According to the Baseball-Reference Play Index, the Kendrick home run set a franchise record for the most allowed in any season, topping the 183 allowed by the 1996 team that played at Three Rivers Stadium, a more hitter-friendly venue. Before that, the record had been held by the terrible 1953 team with 168 allowed, albeit over a 154-game schedule.
The 2016, 2017 and 2018 teams all flirted with that record, finishing with 180, 182 and 174 homers allowed, respectively, but those were over a whole season. There are still 35 games left in this one.
It does raise the question of how much of this is on the pitchers and how much is due to the almost universally acknowledged juiced ball.
"The ball's playing different this year," Clint Hurdle replied when asked about that after the game. "However, at the same time, our home run total, here at home, I think it's in the mid-50s somewhere. I think we went over 100 tonight giving them up, which is more home runs than we've given up in any other year. We still have 18 home games to play. So it's a combination of having pitches better located, and the league in general's hitting more home runs. We haven't, and we are definitely paying the price for missed execution off the mound."
The Pirates have hit 59 home runs at PNC Park, including an Adam Frazier solo shot Thursday, compared to the opponents' 97.
For those wondering if the Pirates will set a new major league record this year, it is nearly impossible. They are currently in a tie for the 11th most home runs allowed in Major League Baseball. This year's Orioles set the major-league record with 260 and counting, breaking the previous record held by the the 2016 Cincinnati Reds (258). The National League-worst this season is the Phillies, who have 204.
• Stratton was not Hurdle's first choice to pitch the eighth. Originally, the plan was that, if the Pirates were within a run, Keone Kela would pitch the eighth and Felipe Vazquez the ninth. However, Hurdle got a call from bullpen coach Euclides Rojas that Kela got "violently sick" and was unavailable.
Stratton said he had enough time to get ready, but just did not have his stuff.
"I want that situation," he said. "I feel like I worked my tail off to try to get in that spot, so just to come in and do as bad as I did today just really sucks, to be honest with you."
Stratton entered Thursday with a 1.82 ERA over 17 games since being activated off the injured list on June 18.
• Steven Brault started shaky, allowing hits to the first three batters in what would end up being a two-run inning. After leaving the bases loaded in the second, he allowed only two more baserunners over his final four innings.
His six-inning line saw two earned runs, seven hits, one walk, four strikeouts.
"Really good mix of pitches," Hurdle said.
That mix included 11 changeups and even more breaking balls. Brault calls it a slider, and sometimes pitch tracking software calls it a cutter. Whatever it is, Brault threw a season high 31 of them, and the Nationals could not hit it, swinging through 10 of them -- thrice for strike three -- and went 1 for 5 when they put it in play. The hit was an infield single by Victor Robles.
Brault had thrown his fastball more than 86 percent of the time in two of his previous three starts.
"Elias Diaz and I realize that these guys obviously look at scouting reports and what's happened before," Brault said. "They were swinging at fastballs early, and I was throwing it over the plate, so they were able to hit it. So I made an adjustment, quickly, going to more offspeed pitches."
• Brault said his previous outing Aug. 17 was his first "dominant" start in the major leagues. He considers this another first, where he was able to go to Plan B after a rough start and still give six strong frames.
"It's just about the ebb and flow of the game, and that's why I love starting so much."
• Max Scherzer's return from the injured list was an abbreviated one, lasting four innings and allowing four hits and a walk. The Pirates' lone run came against him in the third when Frazier went deep to right, pulling the Pirates within 2-1.
Brault, one of the better hitting pitchers in the league, struck out looking on three pitches in his only crack against the Nationals' righty.
"He's the only person I've ever seen throw from that angle," Brault said. "It literally looks like it's rising. It's pretty crazy. I can see why he, you know, (has) three Cy Youngs."
• The Pirates are 8-30 since the All-Star Break, a .211 winning percentage. They have been held to one or zero runs in five of their past six games, being outscored, 41-7.
• Hey, I still had fun on my first day here. Thank you for the warm welcome in the comments, on Twitter and in e-mails, and I look forward to getting to know everyone better.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE INJURIES
• Gregory Polanco (10-day IL, shoulder)
• Lonnie Chisenhall (60-day IL, calf)
Here's the most recent full report.
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates return tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. for Game 1 of their weekend series with -- yeah, those guys -- the Reds. Mitch Keller (1-2, 8.86 ERA) will get the ball against righty Anthony DeSclafani (8-7, 4.40). I'll be back alongside Hunter Homistek for all the coverage.
THE COVERAGE
All our baseball content, including Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, Indy Watch by Matt Welch, and Altoona Watch by Jarrod Prugar, can be found on our Pirates page.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Pirates vs. Nationals, PNC Park, Aug. 22, 2019 -- MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
