Ten takeaways as Pirates' losing streak hits 10 taken in Washington (Pirates)

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Trea Turner forces out Ben Gamel at second base Wednesday at Nationals Park.

WASHINGTON -- The Pirates concluded their road trip Wednesday, but the losing streak will boomerang right back to PNC Park after a 3-1 loss at Nationals Park.

That 10-game losing streak is their longest in nearly a decade, last being matched in a stretch from July 29-August 7, 2011.

“It would bother me if we didn't continue to grind,” Derek Shelton said. “We come up there with the winning run at the plate in the ninth inning. There was a situation where we saw guys were playing hard. Losing 10 in a row is frustrating, but if these guys weren’t getting after it, then we would have an issue.”

That situation in the ninth was getting Adam Frazier up to the plate with two outs and two on after Jacob Stallings and Erik González singled to keep the chain moving. Frazier bounced out to second to close the game. 

Again, an even 10. It’s a fact that cannot be lost in any of this. Regardless of where the Pirates stand in their rebuild, it is a low.

“To have the off-day and reset, we’re going home. We’re going to get prepared,” Wednesday’s starter Chase De Jong said. “This is a game where it’s a grind. To have that 24 hours where we can go home, be with our families a little bit, get away from the game a little bit, be refreshed and come into it ready to hit the ground running, I think it will be good for us.”

Let’s make it an even 10 takeaways for an even 10 losses:

• Sticking with the theme of late, a quick hook got the starter out of the game early.

De Jong had to battle to get out of the fourth after Frazier failed to catch up to what could have been a potential inning-ending double-play ball, which was followed by Luis Garcia beating out an infield single on a soft grounder to first.

He was able to escape without a run by striking out Jordy Mercer and getting Victor Robles to pop out.

But that was it for him.

“If he doesn't empty the tank there and grind through it, then we're not sitting at a 1-0 game,” Shelton said.

“Obviously, as a competitor, I want to keep going,” De Jong said. “As a starting pitcher, it’s my job to get deep into the games. But what he said had merit. I know that, in that situation, it’s a laborsome inning. We got through it. We didn’t let anybody score. At that point, OK, I did my job. I kept my team in the game and where he explained to me that if we give up a base hit there, a couple runs, the momentum of the game drastically switches.”

This has been a theme this road trip. Wil Crowe being pulled in the sixth after losing a battle and giving up a long walk Sunday. JT Brubaker left in a tie game after five innings having thrown just 71 pitches Monday. Three outings that were either good or on pace to be good that were shut down early. De Jong also threw just 71 pitches.

Over the past nine games, the Pirates' starters have faced only 10 batters after the fifth inning. Nine have been by Tyler Anderson in his two six inning starts -- during which he allowed eight runs total.

• The long ball hasn’t burned the Pirates' pitching as much as other teams, as they've allowed a relatively average 81 on the year (the league average was 77 going into the day). But the ones they do give up seem to bite them more.

On Wednesday, it was two Washington home runs that ultimately decided the game. One by Yan Gomes in the second -- his second in as many days off a fastball -- and the deciding shot by Josh Bell in the seventh off David Bednar.

That was another big hit off a reliever during this streak, following two losses by Clay Holmes last Friday and Monday. And those long balls are creeping up the bullpen’s ERA. 

“When you give up home runs, then you know that ERA can go up,” Shelton said. “[The bullpen has] definitely been a strength of ours, they will continue to be a strength of ours. I think we've just the pitches that we have not executed have been hit out of the ballpark, and when that happens the ERA goes up quickly.”

Of course, each home run allowed seems more impactful when the offense can’t match it.

• Shelton came into the year wanting to be more aggressive on the bases. A bad hold had them chasing a run all game Wednesday.

In the fourth inning, Gregory Polanco lined a hit to center with Bryan Reynolds on second. With one out, Joey Cora gave Reynolds the stop sign, and the two watched as Robles’ throw was 30 feet up the third base line. It would have easily been a run had Reynolds gone.

“It’s easy to go back after there was a bad throw and see that you obviously could have scored there,” Reynolds said. “If he makes a good throw, who knows? Just one of those things. It was a bad throw. So, yeah. Could have scored, but how are we supposed to know it’s gonna be bad?”

Phillip Evans struck out and Ben Gamel fanned to end the inning.

Individual baserunning mistakes can be overblown, but the Pirates haven’t taken the leap on the basepaths they were searching for, at least statistically. 

Last year, the Pirates took extra bases on hits (moving first to third on a single, first to home on a double, etc.) 37 percent of the time. Entering play Wednesday, they took the extra bag 36 percent of the time this year. The league average is 40 percent, and the Pirates’ XBT% is tied for the fourth-worst in the majors. They’ve made an above average number of outs on the bases (20), and even with a Polanco steal Wednesday, their 21 swiped bags as a group is well below the league average of about 30.

• The insult to injury on holding Reynolds was it was a rare hit with a runner in scoring position.

During their 10-game skid, the Pirates are just 11 for 71 when there is a runner on second and third. That’s a .155 average, one that was noticeably improved by their 2-for-7 performance Wednesday.

It’s been long established that this lineup can’t rely on power. Their 47 homers are dead last in baseball, a dozen fewer than the next closest in the Rockies and 30 off the league average pace. Without timely hits and creating consistent scoring chances, 

• The Pirates have not been able to put more than four players across the plate in any game during this stretch.

The last time they lost 10 games while scoring four or fewer runs each time was July 6-15, 1968.

Shelton has been trying to get something going by shaking up the lineup recently.

“Just bouncing different people around to try and find the right mix to score some runs,” Shelton said. “That’s probably the most direct answer it is. It’s bouncing guys around to see if we can create more opportunities.”

But the results speak for themselves.

• There are some wicked individual slumps and pitfalls on offense that makes constructing and navigating a lineup so difficult.

Ka’ai Tom is 2 for 29 in June, with only two walks and two HBPs to supplement his on-base percentage. Evans is down to a .211 average and .628 OPS since his hot start. After the top three of Frazier, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Reynolds, the member of the Pirates’ starting lineup Wednesday with the best OPS was Gamel at .654.

Game planning can only go so far. It’s going to have to come down to execution.

Seeing Colin Moran pinch-hitting in the seventh after being out of the lineup this series after tweaking his back in Milwaukee on Sunday is at least an encouraging sign.

Less encouraging: They were shut down by spot starter Paolo Espino. It was supposed to be Max Scherzer’s turn in the rotation. Instead, Espino just pitched like him.

• It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a left-on-left match-up look so one-sided.

Representing the tying run in the eighth, Polanco came up to bat against Nationals closer Brad Hand. The result went as expected:

Before that at-bat, Polanco had a .109 average and .300 OPS against lefties. 

“You’ve got to leave him in there with where Gonzo was at,” Shelton said. At the time, González was the Pirates’ last remaining position player. “We knew he was coming in and we knew if we tie the game [Richard Rodriguez] is going to pitch two innings, so there's no way with that being the last guy we can make them.”

• That’s three straight sweeps, with the opponent getting progressively worse each time. From the defending champion Dodgers, to the offensively challenged but very much competitive Brewers, to the last place Nationals. Though to be fair, after chatting with some Pirates turned Nationals this series, they still view themselves as competitors. Maybe they are. They were in about this spot in 2019.

Also, a Bell homer seemed inevitable at some point this series. It ended up coming at a crucial time.

• Coming into play Wednesday, their win-loss record was 23-43. Their Pythagorean record, a projection based on the number of runs scored and allowed, coming into the day was 23-43. 

And a 10-game losing streak does distort this a bit, but since the Pirates got their collective head above .500 on April 27, beating the Royals to improve to 12-11, they are 11-33.

They’ve earned this record.

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THE ESSENTIALS

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THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Adam Frazier, 2B
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Gregory Polanco, RF
5. Phillip Evans, 1B
6. Ben Gamel, LF
7. Kevin Newman, SS
8. Michael Perez, C
9. Chase De Jong, P

And for Dave Martinez's Nationals:

1. Kyle Schwarber, LF
2. Trea Turner, SS
3. Juan Soto, RF
4. Josh Bell,1B
5. Yan Gomes, C
6. Luis Garcia, 2B
7. Jordy Mercer, SS
8. Victor Robles, CF
9. Paolo Espino, P

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates have a quick five-game homestand against a pair of clubs from the American League Central. First the Indians come to town for a three-game series beginning Friday. Chad Kuhl is in line to start against rookie right-hander J.C. Mejia with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The Pirates will host the White Sox for two games next Tuesday and Wednesday before going back on the road.

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