Pirates can't overcome Keuchel, stretched strike zone in two-hit loss

MINNEAPOLIS -- The grumbling continued after the game and into the Target Field visitors' clubhouse afterward.

The Pirates had just dropped their Sunday rubber match to the Twins, 2-0, and were in danger of being on the wrong end of history in the process. Dallas Keuchel took a perfect game into the seventh inning, and the only two hits all afternoon would be a Bryan Reynolds double to end that bid at perfection and then another hit on an infield single in the ninth. Mix in a Connor Joe walk in the eighth, and that was it.

Not to diminish Keuchel's efforts, but the veteran lefty has relied on location and control throughout his career, and he seemed to find a hole to exploit, and that would be home plate umpire Laz Díaz's strike zone.

Because whenever Keuchel sees he can get a strike like this, low and away to a right-handed hitter:

He's going to go back to that well:

Even if it means he double dips in the same at-bat, like he did to Joe in the fifth inning:

The end result was Keuchel looking like he regained his 2015 Cy Young form for an afternoon, even if it was partly because he knew the zone was significantly extended to his hand side.

"It’s frustrating," Joe said about the striking zone. "Job’s pretty tough as it is. To have some calls not go our way makes a tough job tougher."

"I think we saw a game today that Keuchel took advantage of a very liberal strike zone," Derek Shelton said, "and when you get a veteran guy that can manipulate the ball the way he does, he did a good job doing that."

This isn't exactly new for the Pirates, though. Coming into today, they had taken 440 called strikes on pitches out of the GameDay strike zone, the most in all of baseball. Of those, 54 were for strike three, also the most.

And it was just one week ago that Shelton, Don Kelly and Oscar Marin were all ejected in one fell swoop against the Reds because the bench was arguing balls and strikes.

It's been a recurring theme for a team that, as a team, has swung at the fewest pitches that were out of the zone, just 25.1% according to Baseball Savant's data. But some of that patience has been counteracted by the extra strike calls.

"As hitters and as an offensive unit, we come up with a game plan of what we’re trying to do to that opposing pitcher," Joe said. "If that guy’s getting more of the plate than he should — as much as we try not to stray from our approach, it makes it tough. How many times can we strike out looking? It’s frustration."

There's an argument to be made that there should have been more of an adjustment made. While it's much easier to say it rather than do it, that wide zone was, at the very least, consistent, so plenty of pitches that far out could be strikes. 

There's another argument that the Pirates didn't go to that part of the zone nearly as often, though they didn't enjoy that same low, outside strike call.

But offensively, that's also going against how hitters are trained and how they prepared for the game.

"It's extremely challenging," Shelton said. "You teach guys to stay on the plate and you teach them to be patient and make sure they get the right pitches to hit, and that causes challenges."

This was a winnable game for the Pirates, a win which would have sent the team home with a road trip split. Ryan Borucki tossed two perfect innings as the opener, and while Osvaldo Bido allowed two runs, Jose Hernandez, Dauri Moretta and Colin Selby kept the game close from there.

Without any help from the offense, though, it was for naught.

"Just kind of how baseball is," Reynolds said, answering about the challenges of a wide zone. "Just got to move on and stay with your approach and try to get it where you want it."

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THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 15-day injured list: RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (elbow), LHP Angel Perdomo (elbow)

• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), INF Tucupita Marcano (knee), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Ji Hwan Bae, CF
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, DH
4. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
5. Connor Joe, 1B
6. Endy Rodríguez, C
7. Henry Davis, RF
8. Liover Peguero, 2B
9. Alika Williams, SS

And for Rocco Baldelli's Twins:

1. Jordan Luplow, LF
2. Donovan Solano, 1B
3. Carlos Correa, SS
4. Jorge Polanco, DH
5. Edouard Julien, 2B
6. Royce Lewis, 3B
7. Ryan Jeffers, C
8. Matt Wallner, RF
9. Michael A. Taylor, CF

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will welcome the Cardinals to PNC Park for a three-game series starting Monday. DK will cover.

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