Morning Rundown: Nick Yorke picks up three hits, Bubba Chandler strikes out eight, Pirates lose
Yorke picks up first three hits of major league career, Chandler strikes out eight, Pirates lose to Cardinals
The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped game two of four against the St. Louis Cardinals. They did get a solid pitching outing from Bailey Falter, who allowed two earned runs on four hits and two walks across 5.2 innings.
It was another case of the offense outhitting their opponent but failing to do so when it mattered most. They went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Bryan De La Cruz hit his 20th home run of the season and second with the Pirates.
The star of the night was Nick Yorke, who collected three hits—the first three of his major league career.
It was business as usual for him, as he launched a pair of hits to right field for a single, with the other going to center. He finished his time in Triple-A with Indianapolis, picking up 54 hits in 40 games, a good amount going the other way.
The Pirates will have Jake Woodford on the mound, who must be added to the 40-man. They will face Sonny Gray for the Cardinals.
In what could be his last start of the season, Bubba Chandler found a way to make it work despite maybe not being his sharpest.
He struggled with his fastball command early on, relying on his slider to get early misses and outs. The fastball eventually started to play up a bit more, resulting in getting some misses later on.
He finished the night allowing two earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out eight over 5.1 innings pitched. Chandler finished the night with 11 whiffs, using the fastball (5), slider (4), and change-up (2) to get them.
Endy Rodriguez went 2-4 with two strikeouts, a walk, and an RBI. He drove in Ji Hwan Bae in the fifth inning to extend the lead to 2-0.
Alika Williams played in his first game since being optioned back to Indianapolis, going 3-4 with a double and run scored.
Thomas Harrington is currently the projected starter for Indianapolis on Wednesday.
SS Tsung-Che Cheng assigned to Indianapolis Indians from Altoona Curve
Pittsburgh Pirates sent C Endy Rodriguez on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians
Indianapolis Indians transferred LF Billy McKinney to the Development List
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Top Exit Velocity
Joshua Palacios - IND -109.7 mph - Groundout
Joshua Palacios - IND - 107.9. mph - Groundout
Rowdy Tellez - PIT - 106.6 mph - Lineout
Michael A. Taylor - PIT - 106.3 mph - Double
Joshua Palacios - IND - 105.2 mph - Single
Top Pitch Velocity
Bubba Chandler - IND - 98.4 mph
Bubba Chandler - IND - 98.3 mph
Bubba Chandler - IND - 98.2 mph
Bubba Chandler - IND - 98.2 mph
Bubba Chandler - IND - 97.9 mph
Most Whiffs
Bubba Chandler - IND - 11
Ryder Ryan - IND - 6
Bailey Falter - PIT - 5
Dennis Santana - PIT - 3
Carmen Mlodzinski - PIT - 2
Indianapolis Indians - 2 vs Saint Paul Saints - 4
Top Hitter - Alika Williams: 3-4, 2B
Top Pitcher - Bubba Chandler: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
I am Groot.
Obviously just a formality, but I think we were officially eliminated from the playoffs last night. We join the Rockies, Marlins, and Nationals.
Now with 80 losses, we're close to another milestone. But, we're 8-8 in September. Of course we don't play the Marlins again and do play the Brewers and Yankees, but for those in support of Shelton we can still have that "strong finish" that Kovacevic wrote was necessary for Shelton to keep his job. A winning month would be nice, but we're 1-4 since the Marlins' series with only 8 runs scored, so not trending in the right direction.