SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Pirates are no strangers to a sweep this season.
Until today, they have yet to be on the receiving end of a sweep. That changed when the Tampa Bay Rays won today 3-2, wrapping up a three-game sweep on a day that was filled with injuries, bad umpiring, and Tampa home runs.
Vince Velasquez aimed to get the Pirates back on track. Unfortunately, Velasquez left after the third inning with right elbow discomfort. His velocity dipped after a specific pitch. He was optimistic after the outing, noting that he’s been fine through something similar in the past, but this situation led to a quick decision to exit.
The bullpen kept the Pirates in the game, pitching five innings with two runs allowed. That included an immaculate inning by Colin Holderman, who struck out the side on nine pitches in the seventh. Holderman said that the way the series was going had him mad, and he was able to channel that energy into the inning.
“I don’t like losing,” said Holderman. “I’m a competitive person. It doesn’t matter who it is. If we lose, I’m mad.”
The offense couldn’t channel any runs, though that wasn’t exactly on them. Home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez had several high strike threes that were called on the Pirates.
“I know our hitters had a lot of questions about pitches, and we had what? Five or six called strikeout looking,” said Shelton. “With some guys that don’t react. Cutch doesn’t react very often. Connor Joe doesn’t react very often. Reynolds doesn’t react very often.”
After the game, Reynolds went with the simple “it is what it is.”
McCutchen was more open. Here’s a bit of the frustration he showed, via Alex Stumpf.
Cutch on ump frustrations: "What can you do? All you can do is speak your piece, try not to get thrown out of the game and hope they made an adjustment. If they don’t, what can you do in this game, right? Is there any accountability on that end? Over the years, I don’t think so."
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) May 4, 2023
Unfortunately, as McCutchen said, there’s really nothing that can be done, as umpires have no accountability in this game. It is what it is, as Reynolds noted.
Joe was a victim of two strikeouts which were called outside of the zone early in the game. He struck out swinging in the final at-bat. I asked if that had an impact on his zone later in the game.
“You know, it’s pros,” said Joe. “We try not to let it affect us. Try to do our best to stick to that approach where we’ve created. It’s in the back of our minds, though, right?”
The Pirates did threaten in the end. With two on and two outs, Carlos Santana hit a double to cut the score to 3-2. I wrote about how the Pirates needed veterans to step up right now, and Santana did that by putting the Pirates in striking distance to tie. Jack Suwinski followed with a walk, but the game ended on a strikeout by Joe.
“We need to get better,” said Joe of the game today. “We need to keep working offensively. I think the pitching staff did a great job. Keeping that game close. I mean, it’s a chance for us to win that game, all the way until the ninth. Didn’t get the clutch hit a couple times this series. And I think that’s a difference, right? Winning a couple games and getting swept.”
The Rays are a good team. I’ve written the last two nights about how you can’t make mistakes against them. Today was a day where they didn’t make mistakes, but they didn’t get much help from the umpires.
The Pirates return home tomorrow to face the Blue Jays in a three game series with Rich Hill on the mound.
