The Pirates dug themselves a very deep hole and could not climb out of it last night as their three-game win streak came to a halt.
Joe Block has the details.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton found one bright spot for the Bucs: Down 14-1 in the 9th inning, Yu Chang’s aggressive base running gave Oneil Cruz a chance to tie the Major League record for RBIs in consecutive games at the start of a career (five).
Shelton says the three hit batsmen by starter Jerad Eickhoff just added to a miserable night for the veteran, who was making his Pirates debut.
Chase De Jong gave the Pirates three-and-two-thirds innings of one-hit shutout ball, enabling Shelton to save other bullpen arms. The manager appreciated the effort.
Infielder Diego Castillo pitched the 9th inning for the Pirates and gave up four runs. He also provided one of the few offensive highlights with a home run in the second inning.
In order to add Eickhoff to the roster, the Pirates designated for assignment reliever Heath Hembree, who was 2-0 but had a 7.16 ERA in twenty appearances this season. Also, the Pirates transferred outfielder Jake Marisnick to the 60-day injured list. Marisnick is also able to return to the team after a stint on the covid-19 injury list.
Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk reported that outfielder Ben Gamel will begin a rehab assignment with Indianapolis today. Reliever Nick Mears experienced forearm tightness yesterday after appearing the night before in a rehab outing for Indy.
ALTOONA CURVE
Altoona lost to New Hampshire, 5-4, on a walkoff sacrifice fly in the 9th inning last night. Lolo Sanchez had three hits and Jared Triolo had two for the Curve.
Carmen Mlodzinski pitches for Altoona tonight in the third game of the series.
