Rays hand Pirates 2nd consecutive loss in 1st-place showdown
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Austin Hedges was angry. Probably not as much as his manager, Derek Shelton.
Yes, it looked like Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Ryan Thompson committed a balk in, perhaps, the most crucial moment of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 4-1 loss Tuesday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Down 3-1, runners on second and third base in the sixth inning, this was the Pirates’ big opportunity in a game matching two first-place teams.
But the balk wasn’t called by home plate umpire Adrian Johnson, even though Thompson didn’t appear to come to a complete stop in his windup. Hedges’ and Shelton’s arguments did no good, and the game continued.
Hedges struck out, Ke’Bryan Hayes did the same, three more scoreless innings followed, and the Pirates (20-10) lost their second game in a row for the first time since April 1-2. The Rays improved their MLB-best record to 24-6 in front of a crowd of 10,325.
Give Shelton and Hedges credit, though. Two veteran baseball men, they are smart enough to know the game was lost for reasons other than a balk that wasn’t called.
How about this? Pirates batters were 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position, and 11 runners were stranded overall.
“Umpires told me they missed it,” Shelton said on the AT&T Sportsnet postgame show. “It’s a situation where we thought it was a balk. We thought it was a possible pitch violation, too.
“That didn’t change the outcome of the game. The fact that we didn’t get runners in was what changed the outcome of the game.”
Hedges said runs still could have scored in that inning. A single into the outfield could have done it.
“It was a clear balk,” the nine-year veteran catcher said. “It doesn’t affect my at-bat. It just impacts there should have been a run that scored and, then, the runner at second (could have) gone to third base with less than two outs. That’s a huge situation in a 3-1 ballgame at that point. Too bad it wasn’t called.
“Anytime a good team like that makes a mistake like that, you need to capitalize. I still should have got the job done and got the guy in. But it happens.”
Two other events gave the Rays all the edge they needed in a game where the Pirates managed only five hits.
With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth, starting pitcher Roansy Contreras walked leadoff hitter Manuel Margot.
Contreras, who gave up six hits and four walks in 5⅓ innings, made a good pitch to the next batter, Jose Siri, whose bloop into center field looked like an easy out. But shortstop Rodolfo Castro and center fielder Jack Suwinski lost the ball amidst the Tropicana Field roof and allowed it to drop.
“Two young players playing in a place that’s really challenging and they don’t play in it very often,” Shelton said, “and it just fell in between them. I think Jack broke back because of the big swing and Rudy’s (Castro) just got to continue to go. That ended up coming back to hurt us.”
After a one-out single by Wander Franco scored a gift run and put runners on first and third, the Rays pulled off a double steal for the second run of the inning and a 3-1 lead.
From his knees, Hedges tried and failed to throw out Franco at second. Mark Mathias’ return throw home was too late to nail Siri. The Pirates lead the majors in steals (42), but they allowed the Rays four Tuesday.
If Siri’s bloop is caught, Franco’s single is harmless and the Pirates may get out of the inning without allowing any runs.
The Rays might have won 2-1 anyway, because Harold Ramirez homered in the sixth inning, his second RBI and a 430-foot shot that was the first home run allowed by Contreras this season.
Hedges said he doesn’t regret throwing through to second base.
“That was the play that was called and that was the play that I would do again,” he said. “I wish I could have made a little bit of a better throw. They made a good baseball play.”
Shelton said errors get magnified when the opponent is one with the best record in baseball.
Seven Rays pitchers kept the Pirates’ hitters in check, especially Suwinski, who has only two hits in 17 at-bats against left-handed pitchers. The only Pirates run scored on Carlos Santana’s sacrifice fly that tied the score in the fifth inning.
“Their bullpen is full of nasty guys,” Hedges said.