CHICAGO -- For those of you who are superstitious, or at least a little stitious, it was Friday the 13th, and there was a full moon. Perhaps that could be partially to blame for the Pirates 17-8 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field Friday.
It will be 30 years until the next time a full moon falls on a Friday the 13th. Not to be outdone, it has been 40 years since a pitcher had a line like Steven Brault's Friday.
Brault allowed 10 runs, all earned, on five home runs in 2.2 innings pitched. According to Baseball-Reference's Play Index, since 1908, the only other pitcher who allowed that many runs and homers in a start that last three innings or fewer was Frank Pastore of the Reds on May 25, 1979.
"Every mistake I made today was a home run," Brault said. "... I've never had anything like that happen to me before."
Three of those mistakes came in the first after the offense had spotted him a quick four run lead. First, Nicholas Castellanos went deep for a two run home run before an out was recorded.
Two batters later, Willson Contreras took one 460 feet to left-center:
Two batters later, Nico Hoerner gave the Cubs the lead. It was the rookie's first home run.
Contreras struck again to open the third with a home run, this time traveling 455 feet. Brault loaded the bases later in the inning, but was still one out away from escaping the frame and keeping the Pirates in the game. But Anthony Rizzo:
Did that. Brault's final pitch was a grand slam and his fifth home run allowed.
He became the third Pirate pitcher ever to have allowed five home runs in a game. The other two occurrences were recent, too: Chris Archer on June 11 of this year and Ivan Nova on July 3, 2018.
Needless to say, it was not Brault, or basically any Pirate pitcher's day.
"Wind's blowing out. It's a challenging day to pitch," Clint Hurdle said. "However, our plan A for Steven didn't really work. Plan B didn't come around either."
Winds did top over 20 mph in the hitter's favor. Not that Brault was looking for an excuse.
"It was all the wind's fault, actually," Brault said. "The 460 foot home run I gave up to Contreras was definitely wind aided."
No, it was not the wind. It was the full moon. Even if the game was played during the day.
To continue reading, log into your account:
