MINNEAPOLIS -- The Pirates entered the bottom of the sixth Monday ahead of the Twins 4-0.
By the end of the inning, it was all tied up, and the Twins would eventually walk them off in the ninth in a 5-4 Pirates loss.
"We put ourselves in a situation where we didn’t execute," Derek Shelton said afterwards. "Because of our lack of execution, a good team took advantage of that.”
Shelton didn't offer specific examples, but the game ended up being ultimately decided not by Nelson Cruz's walk-off hit against Nick Burdi, but a misplay in center field in that sixth inning.
Nursing a 4-1 lead with two outs and two on in the sixth, Derek Holland gave up a line drive to Max Kepler, but it looked like Cole Tucker would be able to catch it. However, he had a hard time reading the liner, and it ended up sailing over his outstretched glove:
"My first step, I broke in, just one step," Tucker said, recalling the play. "Then I realized, ‘Oh, crap. I need to get back.’ My left foot was in front fo my right. I just slipped a little bit and didn’t get back as fast as I could. If I don’t make that false step forward, I probably make the play and coast to it pretty easily."
That brought the Twins to within one, and they tied it up later that inning on a Miguel Del Pozo wild pitch.
Tucker just started taking reps in the outfield a few weeks ago during summer camp, and as Shelton notes, "that's probably the most difficult play that a center fielder can have."
But it's another case of the Pirates falling one play short during their current five-game losing streak. Their last three have been decided by one run, and the past two via the walk-off.
All told, of their eight losses in their first 10 games, five have been by just one run.
That's led some players to look at veterans like Derek Holland for guidance.
"One of the greatest things I ever got told was you’re one pitch away from greatness, one pitch away from humility," Holland said. "It’s going to happen. We’re right there. These guys are young, we’re learning. That’s the big thing, but I can’t say enough great things about these guys, though. We’re competing. We’re busting our ass every day."
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