Don Kelly asked for patience, for a little more balance, for the Pirates to keep grinding through the rough patches. Instead, Friday in St. Louis brought another muted night at the plate and another loss to a left-handed starter.
Pittsburgh managed just one run on six hits in a 4-1 defeat to rookie Quinn Mathews at Busch Stadium. The Pirates are now seven games into a nine-game road trip and have scored only 12 runs total, which works out to 1.7 per game. They also fell to 13-30 against lefty starters this season.
The first sign of trouble came early. The Pirates didn’t record a hit until the fourth inning, and by then Mathews had already settled in. He was coming off a rough outing six days earlier in Philadelphia, where he allowed seven runs on 10 hits, but against Pittsburgh he looked composed and in control.
Mathews worked through the Pirates with a five-pitch mix and struck out seven, doing it all without using his four-seam fastball. His slider did most of the damage, producing three strikeouts, including Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez. Kelly said Pittsburgh kept expanding the zone against him.
By the time the Pirates finally got on the board, the Cardinals were already in front 3-0. Two third-inning errors by Pittsburgh’s defense helped set up the gap, and Jared Jones gave up three earned runs. The Pirates’ only breakthrough against Mathews came in the fifth, when Jared Triolo delivered an RBI single.
That rally never fully developed. Triolo moved to second on the throw, Henry Davis reached third, and then Valdez struck out on a changeup with the tying runs in scoring position. Mathews was lifted later in the sixth with two outs and walked off to a standing ovation after another outing that shut down Pittsburgh.
“I don't know what it is about lefties,” Reynolds said. “I feel like we had a couple where we started getting to them. … Figure out ways to pass the baton against them.”
Kelly started mixing in bench moves once the Cardinals turned to right-handed relievers, with Brandon Lowe replacing Nick Yorke, Spencer Horwitz entering for Davis and Jacob Gonzalez batting for Triolo.
The broader problem, though, has been building for weeks. Even as the offense has faded, a few Pirates have still found ways to carry stretches of the lineup: Lowe barreled toward 30 homers, Nick Gonzales posted one of the National League’s top batting averages, Valdez emerged as the league’s best rookie hitter in July and Oneil Cruz has still delivered late-game sparks.
Pittsburgh nearly found one more answer in the eighth. With two outs, Reynolds was on first when Cruz ripped a ball through the right side.
It caromed off Reynolds and into right field, ending the inning and killing a chance to put real pressure on St. Louis.
“I know some guys have been grinding here and there, but I think we just have to reset,” Reynolds said. “We knew we were good. Just passing to the next guy, finding ways, [getting] on base.”
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