A month after Cristopher Sánchez carved up the Pirates at PNC Park, he did it again - this time at Citizens Bank Park, and the damage looked just as clean.
Sánchez threw seven shutout innings Tuesday night, struck out nine and allowed only three hits and two walks as the Phillies rolled to an 8-0 win. By the end of the night, Pittsburgh had taken its seventh shutout loss of the season.
The bigger issue for the Pirates was familiar: left-handed pitching keeps exposing a real flaw in their offense.
Sánchez set the tone immediately, punching out five of the first six hitters he faced. Nick Gonzales finally got Pittsburgh’s first hit with a single through the right side in the fourth inning.
Billy Cook’s double in the fifth was the only extra-base hit the Pirates managed. Jared Triolo and Esmerlyn Valdez drew early walks, but the lineup never put together the kind of at-bat sequence that could push Sánchez into trouble.
The Pirates finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight. Konnor Griffin, Bryan Reynolds, Marcell Ozuna and Endy Rodríguez each struck out multiple times.
Griffin went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and said Sánchez’s command, changeup and heavy sinker were the difference. Don Kelly said the Pirates got away from their approach early and started trying to do too much.
Both of those things can be true. Sánchez was sharp.
The Pirates also helped him out. And that combination has become a pattern against lefties.
Pittsburgh now has the third-most strikeouts in MLB against left-handed pitching with 246, and its .677 OPS against them is the eighth-worst in the league. Four of the Pirates’ seven shutout losses have come with a left-handed starter on the mound.
That stands out because this lineup has otherwise been productive. The Pirates lead MLB in hits, rank third in runs scored and are second in OPS.
So this isn’t a bad offense overall. It’s an offense with one glaring hole, and opponents are clearly willing to keep pressing it until Pittsburgh answers.
Kelly at least tried to shake things up Tuesday. After Sánchez beat the Pirates in May with a complete-game shutout and 13 strikeouts - a game in which Oneil Cruz, Ryan O’Hearn and Brandon Lowe combined to go 0-for-8 with five strikeouts - Kelly went with a different look. It still didn’t solve the problem, but the move made sense.
At this point, the Pirates can’t keep treating left-handed starters like a riddle they’ll figure out later. Whether the fix comes through lineup consistency, better pitch selection, more patience or just trusting the best bats no matter the handedness, something has to give.
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