Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles has been a tough ballpark for Pittsburgh over the years. And on Wednesday, the trend continued. The club hasn’t had a winning series in L.A. since 2006, when they won 2-of-3 September 19-21. After the Pirates 4-1 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday evening, the club has lost five straight at Chavez Ravine and seven of their last eight.
Left-hander Erik Bedard allowed two runs on eight hits over five-plus innings. He walked one and struck out three while throwing 88 pitches, 58 strikes. Bedard picked up his second loss on the season despite posting a 2.25 ERA over his two starts during the 2012 season.
After getting two quick outs on just four pitches in the 3rd, Bedard fell behind in the count to Mark Ellis, who drew a five pitch walk. Center fielder Matt Kemp followed with an infield single and Juan Rivera tied the game at 1 with a RBI single up the right side.
Bedard pitched himself into a jam in the sixth, but was able to get out of it by allowing just one run to score. Kemp led off with a single into left, his third hit off Bedard. Rivera reached first base on an infield single to second, the ball deflecting off Bedard’s glove. Andre Ethier ripped a RBI single into left field to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.
After giving up the three straight singles, Manager Clint Hurdle called upon Chris Resop from the ‘pen, The right-hander retired his next two batters before intentionally walking A.J. Ellis. Hurdle elected lefty reliever Tony Watson to face pinch-hitter James Loney to get the final out. The strategy paid off, as Watson got Loney to pop out to leave the bases loaded.
In Watson’s second inning of relief, Dee Gordon led off the seventh with a double down the left field line. Hurdle went to righty Evan Meek, who struck out Mark Ellis on an 0-2 slider swinging. After falling behind 3-0 to Kemp, Meek was able to battle back and get him to chase for the second out of the inning. The Dodgers followed by connecting for three straight singles off Meek, Rivera and pinch-hitter Tony Gwynn picking up a pair of RBI’s.
The lone run that the Pirates scored came in the 3rd frame. Shortstop Clint Barmes connected for his first hit as a Bucco — a home run off the first pitch he saw from righty Chad Billingsley in the 3rd inning. Barmes was 0-for-12 prior to that at-bat.
With the 4-1 loss, the Pirates fall to 2-3 on the season.
Game Notes:
- Relief: Chris Resop: 0.2 IP, BB; Tony Watson: 0.1, H; Evan Meek: IP, 3H, R, 2K; Jared Hughes: IP, K
- Garrett Jones went 2-for-4 with a double –his first extra base hit of the season.
- The Pirates entered Wednesday’s game action leading the Majors with a 1.50 team ERA.
- Alex Presley picked up a base knock in the 8th. He is the only Pirate to have hit safely in each of the first five games this season.
- Slow bats: The Pirates combined for just six hits. They entered game action with a team batting average of .189 —ranked 26 in the Majors.
- Right-hander A.J. Burnett made his second rehab start for High-A Bradenton on Wednesday. After pitching a perfect first inning, Burnett struggled in the second frame. Burnett allowed back-to-back hits to start the inning, then a RBI double to right. He struck out his next batter, but reached first on a wild pitch allowing a second run to score. Burnett gave up two more RBI hits before getting his first out of the inning. After getting a strikeout swinging, Burnett hit his next batter, then gave up a walk before getting pulled from the game. Overall, Burnett allowed eight runs (five earned) on six hits over 1.2 innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Thursday Game Info:
- Right-hander Jeff Karstens (0-0, 1.50 ERA) will make his second start of the season in the final game against the Dodgers. Karstens will face lefty Chris Capuano (0-0, 7.71 ERA). First pitch is at 10:10 PM ET and will air on Root Sports.
