Tim Benz: Pirates need bounce-back effort against Toronto after big thud in Tampa

You can call the Pittsburgh Pirates’ three-game series in Tampa whatever you want.

A reality check. A step back. A wake-up call. A litmus test.

However you want to phrase it, one thing is definitely true: It was a giant disappointment.

The Pirates were swept by the Rays in their much anticipated best-on-best Interleague clash. Tampa Bay outscored the Buccos 15-4 in the process. The Rays outpitched them, outslugged them, outfielded them and even outran them.

That was a big storyline to this series. For a team that usually puts all the pressure on their opponents via running the bases, the Rays actually did that to the Pirates at times, especially in Game 1 when a double steal helped secure a 4-1 victory.

Franco Wandered over to second, so Siri went ahead and stole home pic.twitter.com/6ONTHpZ0Pj

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 3, 2023

The Pirates lost their cool over missed balk calls and the pitch clock. Meanwhile, the Rays were so relaxed, they were showboating during throws on plays in the infield, with the Pirates’ best player (Bryan Reynolds) running.

Just a casual five minutes in the life of Wander Franco pic.twitter.com/H6SfEMgdWp

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 4, 2023

Fortunately for the Pirates, the rest of the National League Central Division is so bad, they didn’t lose ground while being swept. Derek Shelton’s first-place team is in the midst of a four-game losing streak — their longest of the season. But at least the last three defeats came in Tampa, at the hands of the best team in Major League Baseball. The Rays are an eye-popping 26-6.

Meanwhile, the second-place Milwaukee Brewers (18-13) just dropped three in a row to the Colorado Rockies, who are 12-20 and in last place of the NL West. That means the Pirates (20-12) still have a 1½ game lead on the Brewers.

As the Pirates come back from Florida, they start a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays. Pretty much any opponent is going to feel like a relief after playing the Rays. But the Blue Jays are not exactly a walk in the park, even though they are struggling right now.

Toronto is in fourth place of the AL East, eight games back of the Rays. They were just swept over a four-game series in Boston by the Red Sox. So neither club has bathed itself in glory of late.

But, just like every other team in the mighty AL East, the Jays are still over .500 at 18-14. That record was built up largely at home, though. As evidenced by their problems at Fenway Park, the Blue Jays are pretty average away from home. The team is 9-3 up in Canada, 9-11 on the road.

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After finishing fourth in the majors in runs scored last year (775) and tied for second in OPS (.760), the Jays are 11th (151 runs) and 14th (.735 OPS) in those categories this year. And they are middle of the pack in lots of other offensive stats.

Individually, Matt Chapman (.351), Bo Bichette (.331) and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.320) are all over .300. But the team batting average of .255 is tied for 12th with the Pirates. After hitting 200 homers last year (seventh in MLB), Toronto has a respectable 36 this season. But that’s down to 13th.

Pitching-wise, again, the Blue Jays are fairly average with the league’s 16th ERA at 4.36. That said, the Bucs will miss Toronto’s top two pitchers.

Alek Manoah was a 2022 All-Star. Kevin Gausman is second in MLB with 58 strikeouts, just one behind league leader Shohei Ohtani (LAA). But Manoah and Gausman started Toronto’s two previous games. So the Pirates will face Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi.

Bassitt and Berrios both have earned run averages over 5.00. Kikuchi is 4-0 with an ERA of 4.02. So maybe the Pirates bats will get back in gear after scoring just four runs in three days down in Tampa.

That better happen. Because the Pirates starters — Rich Hill (4.18), Johan Oviedo (4.78) and Roansy Contreras (4.09) — all have ERAs above 4.00.

The Pirates must find their winning ways again soon because the “It’s just April” card a lot of skeptics were playing about the team’s hot start can very quickly get turned into an “I told you so” card with a cold May.

TribLIVE Pirates writer Kevin Gorman sits down with Tim Benz to discuss what went wrong for the Pirates in Tampa, and how they will try to rebound against Toronto.

Listen: Tim Benz and Kevin Gorman talk Pirates