CHICAGO — No, Osvaldo Bido, they aren’t all this bad. The Pirates and their fans certainly hope not, anyway.
On a day where the Pirates received some impressive and important pitching help in the form of Osvaldo Bido shining during his MLB debut, a couple more things wiggled loose.
Roansy Contreras looked lost, Yohan Ramirez struggled for a second consecutive night, and the Pirates blew a four-run lead at Wrigley Field on Wednesday, as the Cubs spun things around in a six-run sixth and went home with a 10-6 victory against Pittsburgh.
As impressive as Bido might’ve been in a short start, the greater concern will ultimately be how ugly things got in the sixth. The mess started with Contreras walking in a run via a pitch-clock violation.
That cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 5-2, and center fielder Mike Tauchman made it a one-run game when he went down and got a 2-1 slider from Contreras, lining it into center field for a two-run single.
Ramirez was unable to stop the bleeding, as designated hitter Ian Happ (Mt. Lebanon) shot a sinker the opposite way, through the left side, for a two-run single.
That pushed the Cubs in front, 6-5, and shortstop Dansby Swanson delivered the final gut-punch of the frame by turning on an inside sinker and dropping it into left field to score another run.
In all, the Pirates bullpen allowed 10 earned runs on the night and has coughed up 17 earned runs in the first two games of this series. That can’t happen. Another concern could be Colin Holderman, who made his second appearance in nine days, recorded two outs and permitted three earned runs.
The disastrous sixth followed four stellar innings from Bido, a 27-year-old who signed with the Pirates in March 2017 and had a 4.40 ERA in 121 appearances (108 starts) since making his pro debut.
With Vince Velasquez, Mike Burrows and JT Brubaker all done for the season, the Pirates could really use someone to step up and surprise. Given some of the impressive stuff he showed on Wednesday, Bido appears capable of that.
At the same time, the bullpen this side of David Bednar has struggled. On Monday, Dauri Moreta, Ramirez and Rob Zastryzny had a tough time. Duane Underwood Jr. and Chase De Jong were DFA’d and sent to Triple-A. Wil Crowe has been hurt. Robert Stephenson was traded.
And none of that says anything about Contreras, a member of the opening day rotation whose confidence appears shaken, if not shot. At this point, a stint for him in the minors doesn’t seem like the worst thing in the world.
The loss was a shame for the Pirates because it looked for a couple innings like it might become one of the better wins of the year. Not only Bido but Austin Hedges’ first homer of the year and bat flip to increase the Pirates’ lead to 5-1 in the fourth.
What a fun highlight that could have been had it actually mattered.
The same for Carlos Santana collecting two hits and four RBIs, Bryan Reynolds collecting three hits or Andrew McCutchen and Santana both clobbering homers. Yet if the Pirates don’t address their pitching situation soon, the unfortunate byproduct could be more games like Wednesday.
ON THE MOUND
The terrific stuff from Bido was evident from the very first inning, as he recorded the first three outs of his major league career via strikeout. The first came on a four-seamer that he pumped past second baseman Nico Hoerner.
Bido followed by striking out designated hitter Ian Happ on a slider and left fielder Christopher Morel with what was classified by Statcast as a cutter. It was one of five pitches the website assigned to Bido, who allowed one earned run over four innings, with three walks and six strikeouts. Bido racked up nine whiffs and 20 called strikes.
The only solid pitching performance came from big lefty Angel Perdomo, who struck out two in a 1-2-3 seventh.
AT THE PLATE
Aside from Hedges, McCutchen got an elevated curveball in the first and cranked the 22nd leadoff home run of his career to left-center.
McCutchen, who picked up his 2,000th hit on Sunday, had reached base safely in 10 of his past 11 games, going nine for 31 with three doubles and 13 walks.
Santana gave the Pirates a 3-0 lead in the first inning by continuing his career success against Cubs lefty starter Drew Smyly. Santana sat on a sinker that Smyly left in the middle of the plate and hit one to a similar spot as McCutchen.
Santana, who added a run-scoring single in the fourth to give the Pirates a 4-1 lead, was 6 for 20 lifetime against Smyly, with two doubles and a home run.
AROUND THE HORN
According to sources, the Pirates are promoting two prospects. Left-handed pitcher Anthony Solometo (MLB Pipeline No. 9) is going from High-A Greensboro to Double-A Altoona. Meanwhile, Kyle Nicolas (No. 18) will leave the Curve and join Triple-A Indianapolis.
Former Pirates manager Jim Leyland will be inducted into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame prior to the team’s June 20 game at PNC Park as part of Irish Heritage Night.
Founder and president emeritus of the IABHOF Shaun Clancy will present Leyland with a plaque. Past inductees include former players Steve Garvey, Sean Casey and Nolan Ryan, plus Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, the later Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully and actor Kevin Costner.
UP NEXT
The Pirates will try to win a third series this month on Thursday, but it’ll get a tough task. They get Marcus Stroman, who leads MLB with 12 quality starts and has won his past five starts.
