ST. LOUIS -- It’s been a common refrain from a team that’s very much in the middle of a rebuild. Look for something, anything really, that shows some sort of growth for the younger Pirates that might just have a future with the club.
JT Brubaker is on that list, and he’s gotten there by being the starter the Pirates could most rely on to limit damage and prevent things from getting out of hand on the scoreboard. Although Tuesday night in St. Louis was an unfortunate deviation from that trend, there was still something to take from the outing that Brubaker and the club can build upon.
The 27-year-old struck out three and was tagged for five runs on eight hits but eventually settled in to retire nine of the final 11 batters to face him in a 5-2 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Pirates dropped to 17-24 on the season with their second consecutive loss.
“This is the first time this year he’s had any adversity,” Derek Shelton said of Brubaker, who completed 5 ⅔ innings in the loss. “We saw him step up. Very easily that could have been a three-inning start for him. ... Early was not very sharp, then kinda turned it up a little bit. It was good to see.”
Things were basically abnormal for Brubaker right out of the gate, and the Cardinals took advantage, scoring all five of their runs in the first three innings. Brubaker mostly kept things from unraveling, as he’s done all season. But the Cardinals continued to nip at his heels and capitalize on some early walk trouble.
“I feel like my stuff was there. Just didn't really utilize all my stuff early on,” Brubaker said.
The right-hander felt that the Cardinals were able to key in on his slider in the early going, and it took him too long to figure out a counter attack with the fastball.
“They were probably looking for spin in the zone. Laying off spin that was starting at a certain point that's going to end up a ball,” Brubaker said.
All three runners to reach base via walk -- one in each of the first three innings -- eventually scored. Through his first seven starts, Brubaker had been terrific at identifying a mistake pitch, understanding what went wrong and moving on with minimal damage. But he pitched himself into a corner with the free passes.
And, in terms of growth and teachable moments, he learned that it’s not always the mistakes that fly out of the yard:
That’s a slider that's still located in a difficult spot. Shelton felt it got too much plate, but it's still not typically the type of offering that gets turned around more than 400 feet by a righty. The pitch was down and away to a very good hitter in Nolan Arenado. And he did what a very good hitter does, pulling it over the wall in left-center. It was his fourth consecutive game with a homer.
“That's a tip-your-cap pitch,” Brubaker said. “He leaned out and caught barrel and pulled it into left-center. And it got out. I mean, it was a tip-your-cap pitch. The guy's hot right now, so, definitely a note to keep for next time around.”
Brubaker and all 14,005 in attendance can tip their cap all night to the guy who’s earned every cent of his massive contract since the absolute coup that landed him in the Pirates’ division for most of the next decade.
That pitch wasn’t a mistake. But it was the first homer, and he’s surrendered seven already this season, that Brubaker surrendered with a runner on base. Walks will do that.
Something else a walk will do is create situations where bad luck can creep it’s way into an outing. After a lead-off free pass to Harrison Bader and an eventual sacrifice bunt from opposing pitcher John Gant to put two runners in scoring position, Tommy Edman dropped a blooper against the shift just beyond the reach of Erik Gonzalez that fell for two runs.
“Unfortunately I had a great view at it,” said shortstop Kevin Newman, who finished with two hits in the contest. “Edman couldn't have thrown that ball any better.”
A near-highlight-reel catch could have changed the complexion of this entire outing. So, after putting himself into difficult positions throughout the first three innings, Brubaker felt that he stopped nibbling around the zone and didn’t keep trying to get the Cardinals to bite at the right sliders throughout his strong finish.
“Still was trying to attack the zone, so definitely a learning point of just being able to still mix my pitches even though some things happened,” Brubaker said.
Brubaker’s ERA jumped a bit to 3.27 and he took the loss to fall to 3-3. But even in what’s statistically his worst start of the year, he learned a valuable lesson about knowing when to make an adjustment to the game plan.
MORE FROM THIS GAME
• Ka'ai Tom exited the game after fouling a ball off his foot in the sixth inning.
"He felt something in that last at-bat, so we got him out," Shelton said.
Tom should have a more important role in the outfield after the club designated Troy Stokes Jr. for assignment in favor of waiver claim and natural infielder Ildemaro Vargas on Monday. He's shown an ability to grind out at-bats and make the most of a patient approach at the plate, but the results still don't inspire much confidence. He went 0-for-3 on Tuesday to drop to .161 on the season.
• It's been an absolutely brutal month for backup catcher Michael Perez. He took an 0-for-4 on Tuesday night and is hitless in 23 at-bats in May. His last hit came during a 3-for-3 effort on April 24.
"It’s a challenge for backup catchers because you’re playing once every four or five days," Shelton said. "It’s a tough assignment. I think right now we’re seeing some timing where he’s in between. That happens with guys who aren’t every day players. We have to get the timing to be more consistent."
• Chris Stratton had a shaky finish to April but has not allowed a run in six outings this month. He added two more scoreless frames Tuesday, in which he allowed three hits and struck out one.
THE ESSENTIALS
Box score
Video Highlights
Scoreboard
Standings
Statistics
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
Adam Frazier, 2B
Kevin Newman, SS
Bryan Reynolds, CF
Will Craig, 1B
Gregory Polanco, RF
Erik Gonzalez, 3B
Ka’ai Tom, LF
Michael Perez, C
JT Brubaker, P
And for Mike Shildt's Cardinals:
Tommy Edman, 2B
Dylan Carlson, RF
Paul Goldschmidt, 1B
Nolan Arenado, 3B
Yadier Molina, C
Harrison Bader, CF
Justin Williams, LF
Edmundo Sosa, SS
John Gant, P
THE SCHEDULE
The quick two-game stint in St. Louis wraps up Wednesday night at Busch Stadium before the Buccos head to Atlanta for a four-game set with the Braves. Trevor Cahill (1-4, 5.97 ERA) is scheduled to get the start against Jack Flaherty (7-0, 2.47 ERA) with first pitch set for 7:45 p.m. Eastern.
THE CONTENT
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