A truly wild pitch from Richard Rodriguez cost the Pirates in an otherwise valiant effort from their bullpen Sunday, as the Tigers completed the sweep at PNC Park in a 2-1 decision.
Tied at one in the top of the eighth, Rodriguez retired the first two batters he faced before hitting Jonathan Schoop with a slider that didn't break. On the first pitch of the next at-bat, his cleat got stuck, causing a wild misfire the landed closer to the home dugout than home plate:
Schoop moved into scoring position, and Cabrera followed with a base hit to drive him home.
"It’s a freak play," Derek Shelton said. "It’s unfortunate that it happened at that time, especially as well as Richie threw the ball."
Those were the only base runners Rodriguez allowed in two innings of work.
That pitch undermined what had been a valiant effort by a bullpen that has been injured and overworked this season. The original starter for Sunday's game, Joe Musgrove, was scratched Saturday night with right ankle soreness, forcing the Pirates to go to Steven Brault for the start.
Brault was able to go two innings, but that was it after throwing 32 pitches in Friday's game. Shelton said he had a 30 pitch limit, and Brault ended up throwing 26, though Brault did not know what his limit was.
"I decided not to ask and just go as long as he was going to let me ," Brault said.
After failing to record an out Friday, Brault did not allow a run Sunday, walking one and hitting a batter.
When asked if it felt good to put up zeroes, Brault joked, "I put zeroes up last time. I got zero outs."
"So it was nice to do the opposite of that this time," Brault said. "I'm glad that I was able to go out there so fast and against the same team and perform. It's a good feeling."
That left seven innings for the bullpen to cover. The first three came from Chris Stratton, who struck out six. He allowed a run in his third inning of work on an Austin Romine base hit.
Stratton fought for that third inning, finishing his afternoon with a season high 49 pitches thrown.
"They asked me how I felt," Stratton said. "I always want to go another one. I’m sure they’re not surprised I was saying yes, but any time I’m pitching, I always want to go the extra one. He shot me down pretty quick earlier this season. So I’m glad he gave me one more."
Shelton did not have many options there besides Stratton. Geoff Hartlieb and Nik Turley each pitched a scoreless frame following him, and there wasn't much after Rodriguez. Shelton said Cody Ponce was available in an emergency situation, and Brandon Waddell, who was at home three days ago before being assigned to the Altoona training camp and then quickly transferred to Pittsburgh, would have pitched in extra innings had the Pirates tied the game.
Ponce made his major-league debut last week, and Waddell has never pitched in the majors.
The bullpen will get a reprieve Monday because their game with the Cardinals is postponed. The Pirates will still do baseball activities in the event the series is cancelled, but it will give their bullpen their first chance to catch their breath this season.
"I think anytime when your bullpen is depleted as we are in terms of workload, anytime you get a day off it can help you out," Shelton said.
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