The difference between a team like the Pirates and a team like the Astros -- the former which is trying to climb out of Major League Baseball's basement and the latter which reached the top of the mountain last season -- came down to a sum of moments in the Pirates' 7-0 loss to the defending World Series champion on a summer-like April Day at PNC Park Wednesday.
The clichés are clichés until they're not anymore, just like the thought of small things adding up to mean one larger thing at the end of the day.
It was about the Houston defense picking its pitching up. It was about the Houston offense chipping away at every fiber of 44-year-old looper Rich Hill until his inevitable exit after six innings, leading to a breakthrough against the Pirates' bullpen. It was about the relatively inexperienced group of Pirates -- at least, in comparison -- keeping it close but just not having enough to catch up until Alex Bregman's dagger of a three-run home run in the seventh inning to blow the game open.
"We played the defending world champions and we saw their three best pitchers and, you know, we're in a situation last night where we had to come back and win but we were ahead, and today we played well for six innings and just didn't pitch well at the end of the game to give ourselves a chance," Derek Shelton said. "When a team like this is able to separate, we didn't have to see their leverage relievers, and we saw them last night so they would have had to have pitched 12 hours later, and we just didn't give ourselves the opportunity to do that."
The Pirates were held without a hit until Carlos Santana's one-out double in the fourth inning. That was the Pirates' real first shot at a threat to Houston starter Jose Urquidy, who shut the Pirates out in six innings while surrendering two hits and three walks while striking out two. Connor Joe reached on a fielder's choice two batters after Santana's double, but was caught stealing second base to end the Pirates' first threat of the game.
"That was with two outs and two strikes, so I don't think it had any effect on us," Shelton said of Joe getting caught stealing. "We took a chance there and it didn't work out."
The thing is, the Pirates never really threatened again from that point, gathering just five baserunners spread between the final 15 outs of the home-half's offensive chances. In total, the Pirates had four baserunners reach second base, and two were able to reach third base.
Houston, meanwhile, threatened with runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings before Jose Abreu's two-out, RBI double at last broke through Hill and allowed Houston to take a 1-0 lead in the third. The Astros found an insurance run by way of Corey Julks' first-career home run, a no-doubter to left field, with one out in the fourth.
Hill, though, rebounded to retire Houston in order in the fifth, and then allowed a walk to Jeremy Peña but left him there in the sixth. In all, Hill allowed two runs on five hits with two walks issued and zero strikeouts in six innings. He threw 95 pitches, 62 for strikes.
"The outing went well over the course of the game," Hill said. "Obviously that's a tough lineup one through nine. I think coming out of it with a quality start and making pitches the entire game, we played them tough for the first six innings, and their bats broke out in the later part of the game, but overall (Tyler) Heineman did a great job behind the dish, and just continued to make pitches."
Houston broke through with Bregman's 395-foot no-doubter off of Dauri Moreta and then with sacrifice flies from Yainer Diaz and Kyle Tucker for two additional runs in the eighth inning off of Chase De Jong for the nails in the coffin.
He's so back. pic.twitter.com/zgQcCVQ3Mq
— Houston Astros (@astros) April 12, 2023
Houston had 12 chances with runners in scoring position, while the Pirates had four and capitalized on none of them.
All in all, taking one game out of three from the defending champion is not the worst thing -- especially after losing Oneil Cruz to ankle surgery -- but it certainly isn't ideal, either, considering the sweep over Boston and taking two of three from the e Chicago White Sox. The Pirates finished the season-opening home stand at 3-3.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Alex Stumpf was at Ben Cherington's pregame media availability and Bryan Reynolds came up. Read that story here.
• There was a lengthy delay prior to the start of the fourth inning, as home-plate umpire Jerry Layne left the game after taking a foul ball off of his hand in the bottom of the third. He was replaced at home plate by first-base umpire Brock Ballou.
Hill threw several extra warm-up pitches throughout the course of the delay. He got Peña to fly out to center to lead off the inning, but surrendered the homer to Julks on an inside cutter on the second pitch.
"I thought he did a heck of a job," Shelton said of Hill. "He kept them off balance. He had what, a 25-minute delay or close to a 25-minute delay where he was out there. He was really effective. I think it was the fourth and the fifth where he threw a combined about 20 pitches and was really effective. He did a nice job from all angles. He did a nice job with his fastball. He was able to land his breaking ball, but overall I thought he was really sharp."
Corey Julks vs Rich Hill#Ready2Reign
— Would it dong? (@would_it_dong) April 12, 2023
Home Run (1) 💣
Exit velo: 106.8 mph
Launch angle: 28 deg
Proj. distance: 405 ft
No doubt about that one 🔒
That's a dinger in all 30 MLB ballparks
HOU (2) @ PIT (0)
🔺 4th pic.twitter.com/cWOgIsVCkx
• Was this series against the defending champs a litmus test for the Pirates?
"This is a very good team in this clubhouse," Hill said. "We shouldn't be hanging our heads, so to speak. We have a big series coming up against St. Louis, and that's our focus now, is to move on to that. We've played some really good teams, big-market teams, obviously, well in Chicago and then in Boston, and we have a great starting rotation and then a very, very strong bullpen. The guys are putting the bats on the ball. This was tough today, but tomorrow we get back to it and get out there and put a good game against St. Louis and win."
• Are there any silver linings to take from losing a series to the defending champs, especially in the first three games without Cruz?
"You try to find the positives, but it's tough to take a positive after losing the series today," Joe said. "Rich did a really good job of giving us a chance to win that ballgame for six, seven innings, that's a positive. The way we battled back yesterday, they punched us and we punched them right back. That's a positive. This team's got grit. It's exciting baseball that we're playing, and I know it's really early in the season and our goal is to win every series. But, I'm really a fan of the type of baseball that we're playing. Really high energy, grindy baseball. It's awesome to watch, it's awesome to be a part of, and I hope we can carry it throughout the year."
• Not long after Wednesday's game ended, the Pirates announced that JT Brubaker was done for the season:
"Pirates RHP JT Brubaker underwent right elbow surgery by Dr. Keith Meister today to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). His projected full return to major-league competition is 14-16 months."
Brubaker injured his elbow at the end of spring training, and Tommy John surgery will keep him out until at least the middle of next season. Last season, he went 3-12 with a 4.69 ERA in 28 starts.
Alex has more on that here.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard
THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 7-day concussion list: C Austin Hedges
• 15-day injured list: RHP Robert Stephenson (elbow)
• 60-day injured list: RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ji Hwan Bae, SS
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, DH
4. Carlos Santana, 1B
5. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
6. Connor Joe, RF
7. Jack Suwinski, CF
8. Mark Mathias, 2B
9. Tyler Heineman, C
And for Dusty Baker's Astros:
1. Chas McCormick, CF
2. Alex Bregman, 3B
3. Kyle Tucker, RF
4. Jose Abreu, 1B
5. David Hensley, DH
6. Jeremy Peña, SS
7. Corey Julks, LF
8. Mauricio Dubón, 2B
9. Yainer Diaz, C
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates are on the road for seven, beginning with a four-game set at St. Louis from Thursday through Sunday and continuing with three in Denver. Vince Velasquez (0-2, 9.82 ERA) is scheduled to take the ball against the Cardinals' Jordan Montgomery (2-0, 2.25) for the opener. Alex Stumpf will have the trip.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
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