As they had through the first three games of the 2025 season, mistakes of all sorts again plagued the Pirates on Sunday afternoon at loanDepot Park as they fell to the Marlins, 3-2.
The deciding play on this occasion? A wild pitch by David Bednar in the bottom of the ninth.
The play that set it up? An errant throw down to second base by Endy Rodriguez that allowed Xavier Edwards to steal second and advance to third as the ball sailed into center field.
"There are definitely some things that we need to make sure that we clean up," Derek Shelton said after this one, the third walk-off loss in three games. "Sometimes when you have young players, we gotta make sure that we slow the game back down."
However, those weren't the only mistakes in this one. After Andrew McCutchen walked in the top of the eighth inning, Ji Hwan Bae was brought on as a pinch-runner. After misfiring on two or three steal attempts, Bae got a bad jump on a 3-1 pitch to Jack Suwinski. The pitch resulted in a walk, but Bae pulled up limping as he stopped between first and second.
Bae was thrown out at third three pitches later after trying take a free bag on a ball in the dirt. He was originally called safe, but the call was overturned after a crew chief review.
Then, a day after robbing Suwinski of a go-ahead home run in the Pirates' 5-4 loss on Saturday, Griffin Conine hit a game-tying home run in bottom of the seventh inning off Colin Holderman. In his third appearance of the season, Holderman had Conine in a 1-2 count and grooved a 96.9 mph fastball at the top of the zone. Conine did the rest.
"Lack of execution," Shelton said of Holderman's latest mistake. "Him trying to go one place in the zone and didn't get it there."
That phrase: "Lack of execution," has been a consistent theme through the Pirates' first four games. They did enough right to be in all four games, but when the intensity ramped up and the pressure was on, they crumbled.
And this is the result:
Throughout spring training, and even dating back to PiratesFest in late January, as I wrote in this space on Saturday, the coaching staff and the players have preached doing the little things right. There was said to be a focus on "winning in the margins" and Shelton has said that it would be a big part of the team's identity.
However, as the season continues in Tampa, Fla. tomorrow with the first of a three-game set against the Rays, mistakes continue to happen. So, how do the Pirates rebound from three grueling losses? It's not going to happen in the blink of an eye, but it has happen, according to McCutchen.
"You can do this (talking hand gesture) all you want, you can say little things all you want, but if you’re not working on it, you’re not going to do it," McCutchen said. "It’s going to become a little tougher and a challenge for you to execute when you have to. So, it’s understanding who you are individually as a player, knowing what your role is and executing. It’s plain and simple. It’s what we have to do to win, we have to be mentally sound and we have to execute."
Through four games, the Pirates haven't done that. They've squandered games in the biggest moments and they find themselves in the position they are because of it.
"You just have to learn from those and address it now, so it’s not happening for the course of the season," McCutchen said.
Game highlights:
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
10:03 pm - 03.30.2025MiamiWinning in the margins? Not quite
As they had through the first three games of the 2025 season, mistakes of all sorts again plagued the Pirates on Sunday afternoon at loanDepot Park as they fell to the Marlins, 3-2.
The deciding play on this occasion? A wild pitch by David Bednar in the bottom of the ninth.
The play that set it up? An errant throw down to second base by Endy Rodriguez that allowed Xavier Edwards to steal second and advance to third as the ball sailed into center field.
"There are definitely some things that we need to make sure that we clean up," Derek Shelton said after this one, the third walk-off loss in three games. "Sometimes when you have young players, we gotta make sure that we slow the game back down."
However, those weren't the only mistakes in this one. After Andrew McCutchen walked in the top of the eighth inning, Ji Hwan Bae was brought on as a pinch-runner. After misfiring on two or three steal attempts, Bae got a bad jump on a 3-1 pitch to Jack Suwinski. The pitch resulted in a walk, but Bae pulled up limping as he stopped between first and second.
Bae was thrown out at third three pitches later after trying take a free bag on a ball in the dirt. He was originally called safe, but the call was overturned after a crew chief review.
Then, a day after robbing Suwinski of a go-ahead home run in the Pirates' 5-4 loss on Saturday, Griffin Conine hit a game-tying home run in bottom of the seventh inning off Colin Holderman. In his third appearance of the season, Holderman had Conine in a 1-2 count and grooved a 96.9 mph fastball at the top of the zone. Conine did the rest.
"Lack of execution," Shelton said of Holderman's latest mistake. "Him trying to go one place in the zone and didn't get it there."
That phrase: "Lack of execution," has been a consistent theme through the Pirates' first four games. They did enough right to be in all four games, but when the intensity ramped up and the pressure was on, they crumbled.
And this is the result:
Throughout spring training, and even dating back to PiratesFest in late January, as I wrote in this space on Saturday, the coaching staff and the players have preached doing the little things right. There was said to be a focus on "winning in the margins" and Shelton has said that it would be a big part of the team's identity.
However, as the season continues in Tampa, Fla. tomorrow with the first of a three-game set against the Rays, mistakes continue to happen. So, how do the Pirates rebound from three grueling losses? It's not going to happen in the blink of an eye, but it has happen, according to McCutchen.
"You can do this (talking hand gesture) all you want, you can say little things all you want, but if you’re not working on it, you’re not going to do it," McCutchen said. "It’s going to become a little tougher and a challenge for you to execute when you have to. So, it’s understanding who you are individually as a player, knowing what your role is and executing. It’s plain and simple. It’s what we have to do to win, we have to be mentally sound and we have to execute."
Through four games, the Pirates haven't done that. They've squandered games in the biggest moments and they find themselves in the position they are because of it.
"You just have to learn from those and address it now, so it’s not happening for the course of the season," McCutchen said.
Game highlights:
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
We’d love to have you!