Roansy Contreras changed up the pitch mix, but had a repeat result.
Conteras has become very slider-heavy this year, to the point that he was threatening to set a new major-league record for highest percentage of slider usage for a starter if he kept the pace. That wasn't his plan, though, and he felt that it was time to rely on the curveball a bit more again, a pitch where he had seen its usage drop to 11%.
"I have a lot trust ion my curveball and I think I can control it more than my slider," Contreras said via interpreter Stephen Morales. "So I just want to use it more."
Contreras relied on it more Sunday (18 of his 94 pitches) in what would be a 10-1 Pirates loss to the Blue Jays, and for the most part, the curve played well. The Blue Jays offered at nine curves and whiffed on five, giving him a good swing-and-miss offering on the afternoon.
It also didn't have as much movement as we've seen this year, and a hung curveball ended up defining his afternoon. Ahead in the count to Whit Merrifield 1-2 in the third inning, Contreras went to the curveball to try to get the punchout. Instead, it was a concrete mixer: All spin, no movement. Merrifield pounced on it and hit his first home run of the season.
That would be one of four hits Contreras gave up in two strike counts on the day, three of them happening whenever he was ahead either 0-2 or 1-2.
"He got to two strikes and just didn't have the ability to put guys away," Derek Shelton said. "I mean, one inning, we gave up 0-2 double and then 1-2 Homer. So, it was just the lack of ability to put guys away."
"When you don't execute your pitches it’s real, especially at this level," Contreras said.
Contreras allowed five runs on nine hits and three walks over his five innings, setting the pace for what would be the Pirates' seventh straight loss. And if there has been a common theme with the pitching of late, it has been the inability to put hitters away whenever they have two strikes.
