PITTSBURGH — Friday’s game featured plenty of what the Pirates have seen this season: an inability to generate offense. The hope for the rest of the season and into 2023 should be focused more on the brief glimpses they saw against the Blue Jays at PNC Park.
Making his first start since the Pirates acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals as part of the Jose Quintana deal, Johan Oviedo looked really good at times during a 4-0 loss. He also wasn’t terribly efficient with his pitches and lasted only a third of the game.
As manager Derek Shelton said earlier, Oviedo isn’t fully stretched out, nor is the back-to-the-drawing-board tack they’ve taken with him complete. There have been mechanical tweaks and adjustments to his pitch usage, the right-hander widening his mix to include a curveball and change-up.
Those weapons were evident during a terrific opening frame, with the 6-foot-5, 245-pounder striking out the side and looking rather nasty doing it.
The first two strikeouts came on curveballs. The third was the result of his bread and butter: the slider. Oviedo’s fastball averaged 97 mph, touched 99, and he also threw 11 changeups.
The issue, for anyone looking at Oviedo’s pitching line, was the number of pitches: 77 over three scoreless frames. That won’t work, though his stuff was solid and led to four strikeouts, but the Blue Jays fouled off 22 pitches from Oviedo, driving up his pitch count.
It will be interesting to see how the Pirates handle Oviedo the rest of the way. He had an 0.79 ERA with 13 strikeouts and a .195 batting average against in five appearances at Triple-A Indianapolis. With the Cardinals, he also found success in short stints, going 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA, seven walks and 26 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings across 14 MLB appearances.
There have obviously been times where Oviedo has run into trouble, but he clearly has the stuff to make a difference — if he and the Pirates can corral it.
After Oviedo exited, Tyler Beede took over in the fourth inning and allowed three consecutive hits, including two doubles. The second of those, from second baseman Santiago Espinal, came on a 1-0 changeup Espinal drove into the left-field corner.
Beede quickly gathered himself and escaped additional damage. He struck out right fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. swinging, got center fielder George Springer to bounce to short and — after hitting designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a pitch — enjoyed a sensational defensive play from Oneil Cruz.
The 6-foot-7 shortstop ranged to his right, in the hole, and backhanded a ball hit by left fielder Teoscar Hernandez. Throwing off balance, Cruz still delivered a rocket that Michael Chavis stretched to snag at first.
It was actually one of two defensive plays for Chavis that showed off his pliability. The other was a play in foul territory by Ke’Bryan Hayes in the second inning to get Espinal. The Pirates got another solid defensive effort in the fifth inning when Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette singled and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double by Tucupita Marcano.
The hiccups early caused problems for Beede, but he did work three innings, allowing those two runs while walking one and striking out one. Meanwhile, the Pirates’ offense remained quiet.
Suwinski (two hits) lashed a 104.9-mph single off the Clemente Wall in the second, but Chavis and Marcano lined and flew out to left. Tyler Heineman (two hits) singled to start the third inning; however, he made an ill-advised attempt to reach third base after a ball popped out of Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk’s mitt and was thrown out.
The Pirates put two on once more in the seventh inning, threatening against Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah, with Suwinski and Cal Mitchell each contributing singles. Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman made sure that was it by snaring a chopper from Chavis and firing a strike across the infield to get Pittsburgh’s first baseman.
After Cruz and Rodolfo Castro — a combined 0 for 8 with four strikeouts on the night — struck out with a runner on in the eighth, Bichette put the game well out of reach with a two-run homer in the ninth.
Hayes injured
A little more than a week after he was activated from the 10-day injured list, Hayes left Friday’s game after the fifth inning with left shoulder discomfort. In addition to the mid-back muscle strain that landed Hayes on the 10-day IL, he has also dealt with wrist, shoulder and knee issues throughout his career.
Kevin Newman entered the game at second base, and Castro shifted from second to third. Hayes began Friday’s game hitting .138 with 10 strikeouts in 30 plate appearances over eight games since returning.
Hayes, who’s being treated and evaluated further and is considered day to day, went 0 for 2 with a strikeout against the Blue Jays.
De Jong shines
Chase De Jong didn’t allow a run in the seventh or eighth innings, extending his scoreless streak to 17 innings. That’s the longest for a Pirates pitcher this season, surpassing Dillon Peters (16 2/3). De Jong entered the game 10th in the National League among relievers in ERA (1.95) and batting average against (.174).
