While the offense has been historically bad through the first 18 games of the season, the Pirates continue to have defensive miscues pile up.
After a night in which they recorded a season-high four errors, with two of them being charged to Paul Skenes on pickoff attempts, the Pirates were only charged for one on this night. However, they were noticeable throughout their 3-0 shutout loss to the Nationals.
Tommy Pham dropped a ball in right field in the ninth inning, which was the only charged error of the night. Another fly ball dropped between Jack Suwinski, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the that same inning and then Suwinski and Oneil Cruz miscommunicated on another one earlier in the game that was luckily caught.
"We've got to clean that up. I don't know what it is. I've got to get with (Tarik Brock) and get with those guys and find out what actually happened on those balls," Derek Shelton said. "But yeah, (Tim) Mayza gave up five outs in the ninth. I think Tommy lost that ball in the lights, but we've got to catch the ball when it gets hit."
However, outfield miscues weren't the only mistakes on this night as Enmanuel Valdez continues to show that he's still learning how to play first base, a night after missing Skenes' two pick off attempts.
In the top of the fifth inning, Jacob Young placed down what should have been a sacrifice bunt to move Nasim Nuñez over to second. However, as Mitch Keller fielded it, Valdez crashed in on the bunt, leaving first base uncovered.
It was just the latest example of the defensive miscues that have plagued the Pirates to start the 2025 season.
• Despite Keller being tagged for three runs, Ryan Borucki,Kyle Nicolas and Tim Mayza combined to pitch three scoreless innings and gave up just two hits. After their early season struggles, the bullpen has been solid in recent weeks and have given up just two runs since April 8.
"They've pitched really well, even going back to the St. Louis series at home, the last game, the 13 inning or 14 inning game, whatever it was," Shelton said. "They threw the ball well in Cincinnati. They threw the ball well the last two nights. We've just got to give ourselves an opportunity to be in games where we're on the advantage side of it."
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
3:21 am - 04.16.2025NORTH SHOREExtra Bases: Still more mistakes
While the offense has been historically bad through the first 18 games of the season, the Pirates continue to have defensive miscues pile up.
After a night in which they recorded a season-high four errors, with two of them being charged to Paul Skenes on pickoff attempts, the Pirates were only charged for one on this night. However, they were noticeable throughout their 3-0 shutout loss to the Nationals.
Tommy Pham dropped a ball in right field in the ninth inning, which was the only charged error of the night. Another fly ball dropped between Jack Suwinski, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the that same inning and then Suwinski and Oneil Cruz miscommunicated on another one earlier in the game that was luckily caught.
"We've got to clean that up. I don't know what it is. I've got to get with (Tarik Brock) and get with those guys and find out what actually happened on those balls," Derek Shelton said. "But yeah, (Tim) Mayza gave up five outs in the ninth. I think Tommy lost that ball in the lights, but we've got to catch the ball when it gets hit."
However, outfield miscues weren't the only mistakes on this night as Enmanuel Valdez continues to show that he's still learning how to play first base, a night after missing Skenes' two pick off attempts.
In the top of the fifth inning, Jacob Young placed down what should have been a sacrifice bunt to move Nasim Nuñez over to second. However, as Mitch Keller fielded it, Valdez crashed in on the bunt, leaving first base uncovered.
It was just the latest example of the defensive miscues that have plagued the Pirates to start the 2025 season.
• Despite Keller being tagged for three runs, Ryan Borucki, Kyle Nicolas and Tim Mayza combined to pitch three scoreless innings and gave up just two hits. After their early season struggles, the bullpen has been solid in recent weeks and have given up just two runs since April 8.
"They've pitched really well, even going back to the St. Louis series at home, the last game, the 13 inning or 14 inning game, whatever it was," Shelton said. "They threw the ball well in Cincinnati. They threw the ball well the last two nights. We've just got to give ourselves an opportunity to be in games where we're on the advantage side of it."
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