Mauer's 13th-inning homer spells doom for Pirates in home loss
Left with sizable messes to clean up on consecutive nights, the Pirates' bullpen performed exceptionally during the two-game home series with the Minnesota Twins.
But both times, one inning's worth of sloppy pitching by a starter left stains on the scoreboard that the Pirates' relievers could not remove, and the offense failed to cover up.
An extra-inning win remains elusive for the Pirates, who fell to the Twins, 4-3, in 13 innings Wednesday at PNC Park. Antonio Bastardo, fresh out of the bullpen for the 13th, gave up a one-out homer to Joe Mauer.
In each of their previous five extra-inning games this season, including three occasions in St. Louis, the Pirates watched their opponent celebrate in walk-off fashion.
The Twins, who scored their other three runs in the first inning off Jeff Locke, improved to 3-1 in extra-inning games.
“Extra-inning game, lots of moves — I don't know if I could manage in the National League like that,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “You could see the wheels spinning on both sides.”
Andrew McCutchen, who declared himself tired of “0-for-freaking-4” performances in late April, avoided a second hitless game in as many days when he muscled a ball into the center-field bleachers in the bottom of the eighth.
The homer, McCutchen's fifth of the season, tied the score at 3-3.
It also moved the McCutchen into a first-place tie with former Pirate Jason Bay for home runs at PNC Park; both have 61.
McCutchen's run added to a late-game rally started by Jose Tabata, who in the seventh inning delivered an RBI single as a pinch hitter for the second straight night.
After Tabata's two-out single, the Twins replaced reliever Aaron Thompson with Michael Tonkin. Tonkin, with runners at first and third, used a 95 mph fastball to induce a soft groundout from Josh Harrison, who singled each of his first three at-bats.
“I was ready for fastballs, and I got two. … He just executed the pitch,” said Harrison, who went 3 for 6 to bump his batting average up to .255. “I felt good in all my at-bats today.
“Anytime you lose in extra innings, it (stinks). But no need to hang our heads.”
Hours before the cheers for Tabata's liner to center field and McCutchen's blast, there were boos.
Disappointment directed at the Pirates' starting pitcher emanated from fans for a second straight night, and this time it emerged just minutes after the game's first pitch.
The final pitching line for Locke — seven hits and three runs allowed, two walks and six strikeouts in six innings — gave his first-inning woes the look of an unfortunate aberration in an otherwise agreeable outing.
Unlike Francisco Liriano, who changed and left the clubhouse before most of his teammates showered Tuesday, Locke saved his start from becoming short-lived. He threw 36 pitches in the first inning, including 19 strikes. No inning quite that poor followed, and Locke finished with 99 pitches, including 60 strikes.
Jared Hughes, Tony Watson and Mark Melancon each threw one inning in relief and helped hold the Twins hitless from the fifth inning through the ninth. Rob Scahill continued the hitless streak through the 10th but surrendered a one-out single to Torii Hunter in the 11th.
“Those guys just want to keep it where it is all the time,” Locke said, “and they do such a great job of that.”
Locke, who also struggled with command and lasted just 32⁄3 innings in his previous start Friday, ended up pitching with unfavorable counts against the first five batters he faced. This happened despite his ability to throw first-pitch strikes against the top three batters in the Twins' order.
Danny Santana, at the plate with two balls and one strike, sliced a 93 mph fastball down the right-field line for leadoff double.
Mauer survived a 0-2 count as he resisted consecutive pitches out of the zone and poked a grounder up the middle for a single.
Locke then walked Trevor Plouffe on five pitches to load the bases for Hunter, who, facing a 2-0 count, lined a three-run double off the right-field wall.
Following the Twins' strategy for extra-base hits, Starling Marte slapped an opposite-way double down the first-base line in the bottom of the first to drive in Neil Walker.
“We fought back,” Locke said. “But it was just kind of deflating to have that happen (for the Twins) in the first inning.”
Bill West is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at wwest@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BWest_Trib.
