Brewers take advantage of late scratch to starting pitcher, pound punchless Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates were preparing for their first game without All-Star second baseman Adam Frazier when they found out they also would be without their scheduled starting pitcher.

Tyler Anderson was scratched less than four hours before first pitch Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers, who reportedly was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for a pair of minor leaguers before the deal was put on hold.

That left rookie right-hander Luis Oviedo to make his first major-league start.

Like the Anderson trade, it didn’t go quite as planned.

Sparked by a two-run home run by Omar Narvaez, the Brewers got five hits and drew three walks to knock Oviedo out in the second inning on their way to a 9-0 win before 10,618 at PNC Park.

“It’s a challenging thing for anybody when you get told about an hour and a half before the game that you’re gonna start,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Oviedo. “I just never thought he ever got into a really good tempo, and because of that, his fastball command was inconsistent. He threw some good curveballs, but the fastball command, with a club like this, if you don’t throw it on the plate, they’re gonna start to realize that. They started to sit on pitches, and it turned into them scoring runs.”

The night didn’t go well for the Pirates (38-62), who replaced Frazier, the MLB hits leader who was dealt to San Diego on Sunday for three prospects. Kevin Newman, who took over the leadoff spot in the batting order, went 0 for 4 and committed only his second error of the season. Rookie Rodolfo Castro, who was recalled from Double-A Altoona, started at second base and went 0 for 3. Castro did turn an inning-ending double play in the eighth.

As if it wasn’t confusing enough to see Anderson throwing in the bullpen and watching the game from the home dugout, Oviedo’s struggles started after he struck out leadoff batter Kolten Wong.

The NL Central-leading Brewers (59-42) pounced on the Pirates’ mistakes. Newman mishandled a Willy Adames routine grounder, which was exacerbated when Narvaez followed by sending Oviedo’s 0-1 fastball 398 feet into the right-field seats for his ninth home run and a 2-0 Brewers lead in the first inning.

Oviedo walked the next two batters before giving up a two-out RBI single to Lorenzo Cain to make it 3-0. It only got worse for Oviedo in the second inning, when he gave up five runs before being pulled for Nick Mears.

Oviedo started by walking pitcher Brett Anderson, hitting Wong and giving up a single to Adames to load the bases. Narvaez hit a two-run single, Garcia an RBI double and Rowdy Tellez a two-run single for an 8-0 lead. Where Anderson (3-5) allowed three hits in six scoreless innings, Oviedo (1-2) gave up six earned runs in one.

Mears got the Pirates out of the second and allowed two hits in as many innings. Cody Ponce, recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, struck out five while giving up three hits in five scoreless innings in relief. Kyle Keller, however, gave up a two-out home run to Tellez in the ninth to make it 9-0.

Despite starting Oviedo over Ponce, Shelton said he planned to use both pitchers. Oviedo had made three starts during his rehabilitation assignment at Indianapolis, so he got the nod.

“Obviously, this year is a weird year, with everybody coming up and down including myself and Luis coming off injuries and the IL,” Ponce said. “It’s kind of tough, but we have to have that mentality of going out there every day and being ready and prepared for it.”

Shelton said he wanted to see what Ponce, who made eight starts in Indianapolis, could do out of the bullpen and was impressed with his tempo, fastball execution and how sharp his cutter was in preserving the ‘pen for the rest of the six-game homestand.

“I mean, he saved us,” Shelton said. “He saved our bullpen by giving us the innings and the scoreless innings that he did, and he threw the ball really well.”