Offensive failures yet again spoil another strong pitching performance

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A lot of people are going to blame David Bednar once again. He earned his sixth loss of the season in the Pirates' 1-0 loss to the Rangers Wednesday at Globe Life Field.

However, once again, this offense's ineptitude cannot be overlooked. Not only did the Pirates fail to score a run, not only did they leave 10 men on base, they struck out 16 -- SIXTEEN -- times.

I asked Derek Shelton about this putrid offensive performance after the game, listing the number of strikeouts and men left on base.

"Extremely frustrating," Shelton said. "We had opportunities. I mean, 10 guys left on base, had some opportunities, had the bases loaded twice. We just didn’t get a hit we needed to break the game open. You can’t expect to win a game when you leave 10 guys on base."

Okay, yeah, 10 men left on base is bad. But what about those strikeouts?

"We have to have better at-bats," Shelton said. "We have to put the ball in play because 16 strikeouts doesn’t give us an opportunity to score runs."

Thank you. Column's written. Goodnight.

But, seriously. I'm no baseball expert, but I feel like I shouldn't have to pull teeth to get the manager to sound offended at his team striking out 16 times. I was offended having to watch a professional baseball team strike out that much.

The real problem is this isn't the first or even the second time the Pirates have struck out this much in a game this season. They did it just 12 days ago in a 9-5 loss to the Dodgers, the fifth loss in the infamous 10-game losing streak. And, the season high is 17 strikeouts on opening day against the Marlins. But of course, that one gets overlooked because the Pirates won.

To be fair, Shelton does have a right to be frustrated beyond measure at 10 men left on base. The Pirates out-hit the Rangers, 8-6. They had a golden opportunity to jump out to a lead early in the game. Bryan De La Cruz hustled down the line to reach on an error, Oneil Cruz singled for the first hit of the ballgame and Jared Triolo walked to load the bases. However, Yasmani Grandal grounded into a gutting 6-4-3 double play.

Another bases-loaded opportunity came up in the fifth inning after Bryan Reynolds singled and Joey Bart was hit by a pitch with two outs. But once again, the Pirates failed to cash in on the opportunity as Connor Joe struck out swinging:

And for the third time, the Pirates had an opportunity to break through. Grandal led off the Pittsburgh seventh with his second single of the day, then Billy McKinney roped a pinch-hit single into center field off lefty Andrew Chafin. But this time around, luck played a role in the squandered chance. Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined one hard to first base, but Nathaniel Lowe was able to snag it then finish the double play by beating McKinney to the bag:

Two of those plays are understandably frustrating. Grandal's double play lowered the Pirates' win probability by 15.3%. Kiner-Falefa's double-play lineout lowered it by 16.5%. Those are heavily impactful plays.

But at least they put the ball in play. They gave their team a chance to do something. You never know what may happen.

"Lowe made a great play where that ball is one foot or six inches right or left and all of a sudden we have a double and score two runs," Shelton said. 

Exactly. Those are the plays Little League coaches use as teaching tools to little kids by saying, "Sometimes you've just gotta tip your cap. But at least you gave your team a chance."

There is no chance of anything happening by striking out. Whether that's swinging like De La Cruz did ...

... or staring at strike three like Tellez did, something that this club has become known for this season:

Those two at-bats are perhaps the most frustrating. It was the eighth inning. Bart led off with a single into right field, and Shelton made the baseball move to have Ji Hwan Bae pinch run for him. That adds speed to the bases. It's a scoreless game. And with the way the Pirates were pitching, it makes all the sense in the world to just try and be the first one to have someone touch home plate.

But Tellez comes in a stares at strike three. As I pointed out a couple nights ago, people can complain about the call. But the Rangers have an elite pitch-framer in Jonah Heim. That has to be accounted for on close pitches with two strikes. And, as we know from that story a couple nights ago, Shelton admitted it's not part of the game plan to worry about who's receiving behind the plate for the other team.

Then De La Cruz swings and misses. And that's not a swing in which a guy's shortening up and trying to put the ball in play to at least move the runner over. If you're going to pinch run to add speed to the bases, then use it. Bae wound up stealing second, but that wasn't until after these two outs. And after a Cruz walk, Triolo flew out to squander another opportunity.

But, at least he put the ball in play. And at least he worked the count by making the pitcher throw eight pitches. When Joe struck out with the bases loaded, that was on three pitches.

Quick little side note: Joe is now batting .095 in August, striking out 10 times in 21 at-bats. How about give somebody -- anybody -- else a chance?

And once again, all of this ruined a stellar outing from a starting pitcher. Even though it was his first start in a Pirates uniform and his first since July 25 last season with the Yankees, Domingo Germán tossed six scoreless innings, giving up only three hits and four walks while striking out four. Germán was also wildly efficient, needing only 75 pitches. And, Kyle Nicolas and Aroldis Chapman were outstanding as both pitched perfect seventh and eighth innings, respectively, combining for five strikeouts.

"He went back and forth, he mixed in the changeup and was really effective," Shelton said. "Realize it was only 75 pitches, he hasn’t thrown that long in a long time, but he did a really good job of keeping them off balance."

But it was all for nothing.

I asked Shelton Tuesday afternoon how this season has challenged him as a manager. His answer really hits hard today:

"I think the biggest challenge, we played really good baseball for three-and-a-half months and then we had the 10-game (losing) streak and we lost six 1-run games," he said. "I think the way it challenges you is you continue to evaluate decisions you're making, how you're making them, what influences the game, or what the execution is in terms of influencing the game."

I think at this point, there needs to be more evaluation of the offensive approach of this ballclub. This isn't a blip on the radar. This team can't hit, which is sad because they've got some insane talent on the mound. Pitchers such as Paul Skenes only come around once a generation.

The urgency to become a better-hitting club has to pick up now, even more so than any contrived urgency to make an unrealistic run at a wildcard spot. It's already been proven that adding De La Cruz and Kiner-Falefa didn't help. And, we all know this franchise isn't about to drop big bucks on heavy hitters.

So, what's gotta change? That, ladies and gentlemen, is the question to which we all need answers.