Pirates again fall to Cardinals in extra innings
Jameson Taillon admitted it was “a tough question.”
Perhaps answering it was more difficult than anything the St. Louis Cardinals threw at him Wednesday night at PNC Park.
But, in the end, he said he was “cool” with Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle’s decision to pull him from the game after he was in almost total control for seven innings. Never mind that the bullpen lost another lead – that makes three in the first four games of the season — and the Pirates (1-3) dropped another extra-inning game, this time 5-4 in 10.
“I still felt good, but I hadn’t completed seven yet (this season),” said Taillon, who had thrown only 85 pitches with five strikeouts and no walks through seven. “And with (Keona Kela and Felipe Vazquez) in the back end of our pen, I definitely understood.
“I felt fresh. My pitch count was in a good place.”
But he said he didn’t fight back when Hurdle turned the game over to Kela with the Pirates ahead 3-1 in the eighth. He wasn’t asked his opinion, either.
“It seemed to be a done deal there,” said Taillon, who gave up a home run to Paul DeJong to start the seventh – the second time in his two starts he’s allowed a homer at the outset of the seventh.
“It kind of made sense to me at the time. More nights than not, those guys on the back end are taking care of us,” Taillon said.
As it turned out, Kela allowed a two-run, game-tying homer to Harrison Bader, the Pirates’ bats remained silent (only one hit after the fourth inning) and the Cardinals (3-3) won with two runs in the 10th to sweep the two-game series.
Losing pitcher Nick Burdi, the third of four Pirates relief pitchers, gave up a triple to Kolten Wong, a walk to Bader and a tie-breaking single to Tyler O’Neill in the 10th. Francisco Liriano came in and walked Paul Goldschmidt and threw a wild pitch that scored the eventual game-winning run for a 5-3 lead.
The Pirates scored a run in the bottom of the 10th, but needed three walks to do it. With the bases loaded, Erik Gonzalez fouled out to first base, and Pablo Reyes grounded out to shortstop to end the game.
“Whenever you take your starting pitcher out and you give up runs out of the bullpen, it never looks good,” Hurdle said. “You leave your starting pitcher in, if he gives up runs, that doesn’t look good. I think he felt like he competed and got us to a very good spot.
“The last time out, he went into the seventh (in Cincinnati) and we weren’t able to finish it. This time, he finished the seventh and I think we all felt confident moving from there. I don’t know if he could have (pitched an effective eighth) because he didn’t get the opportunity.
“When things don’t happen under the decisions that are made, it’s always the manager’s responsibility. Never going to back away from that.”
Hurdle called Taillon’s effort “a professional outing,” especially after he retired the Cardinals in order after DeJong’s homer.
What bothered Hurdle more than anything was his team getting one hit in 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Jung Ho Kang hit his first home run since 2016 in the third, but grounded into a double play with the bases loaded in the first. Adam Frazier was 3 for 5, but he lined out in the ninth with Gonzalez on second base.
“We had runners at third base less than two out we didn’t score them three times,” Hurdle said. “So, there were multiple opportunities to add on.”
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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