Pirates allow 10 runs, 16 hits in defeat to Cleveland, dropping 4th straight

In their recent series against the Chicago Cubs, the Pittsburgh Pirates averaged nearly eight runs a game but still managed to get swept.

The Pirates traveled to Cleveland on Friday to begin a series against the Guardians, and, again, offensive production was solid.

But Bailey Falter, Carmen Mlodzinski and Domingo German gave up a combined 16 hits, leading to a 10-8 defeat.

Falter started, lasting only four innings and allowing as many runs on seven hits.

The Pirates rallied from an early four-run hole to go up 6-4, scoring all six runs in the fifth inning.

But Mlodzinski (2-5,3.89 ERA), taking over in the fifth, was unable to preserve the lead, allowing two homers while taking the loss.

The Pirates (62-72) rallied for runs in the sixth and ninth, but it was not enough.

“We’ve got to finish innings. We’ve got to execute, and we did not do that again today,” manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “Offense did a good job. That’s a really good club over there.”

Shelton was ejected by home plate umpire Brian Walsh at the end of the top of the fourth for arguing strike calls after a strikeout by Billy McKinney.

After Shelton’s ejection, bench manager Donny Kelly took over as skipper for the remainder of the game.

Cleveland built an early 2-0 lead thanks to a Josh Naylor RBI double, which scored Steven Kwan, who also doubled, and Lane Thomas, who walked.

In the fourth, the Guardians added two more, as Falter allowed three hits in the frame, including a Kwan RBI single, in addition to a sacrifice fly by former Pirate Austin Hedges.

“Just absolutely poor,” Falter said of his start. “Terrible. Absolutely terrible. … Did not do my job tonight.”

The Pirates went ahead 6-4 in the fifth, spoiling Cleveland starter Ben Lively’s evening and leading to his removal from the game.

With one out, the Pirates loaded the bases after Yasmani Grandal and Bryan Reynolds singled, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa getting aboard on a fielder’s choice that did not yield an out.

Then, Oneil Cruz ripped a two-run single, making the score 4-2.

Andrew McCutchen followed with a double off the center-field wall to tie the score, and, soon thereafter, Rowdy Tellez blasted a two-run homer, his 12th of the year, to put the Pirates ahead by two.

“We took some good swings,” Shelton said. “Rowdy with the homer. … We had good at-bats.”

McCutchen, making his return to action from the injured list, hit a solo homer in the ninth, going 2 for 5 with three RBIs and two runs in his first game since Aug. 16.

Cruz was 2 for 5 with three RBIs.

The Pirates’ 6-4 lead did not survive a single inning, as Cleveland scored four in the bottom of the fifth off Mlodzinski.

Naylor got it started with an RBI single before Jhonkensy Noel and Andrew Giminez hit back-to-back home runs to score three more.

That put the Guardians up 8-6, but, in the sixth, Cruz made it a one-run game with an RBI single, scoring Kiner-Falefa, who reached base on a force out.

German, taking over from Mlodzinski, delivered scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh but ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing four hits and a pair of runs that padded Cleveland’s lead to 10-7.

Naylor and David Fry collected RBIs for the Guardians.

In the ninth, McCutchen led off, with Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase on the hill.

Clase, an All-Star for three straight seasons whose ERA was 0.58 upon taking over, fell behind McCutchen 2-0 before the 37-year-old connected on a 100-mph cutter for an opposite-field, line-drive homer.

McCutchen is just the second player this year to homer off Clase, who recovered to record his 40th save.