Kevin Gorman: Chris Archer shines in Pirates' blown home opener

By the time Nick Kingham and Francisco Cervelli got their signals crossed in the 11th inning, Chris Archer’s electrifying start in his first home opener with the Pittsburgh Pirates was but a distant memory.

When Paul DeJong scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball for a 6-5 victory on Monday at PNC Park, the Pirates were eight pitchers and two costly errors removed from Archer putting them in position to win.

Archer pitched five scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing two hits while striking out eight and energizing the sellout crowd of 37,336 and the home dugout with his celebratory screams and a cocksure swagger that saw him backpedal off the mound on a called third strike against Harrison Bader for the final out in the second.

“There was a time there where he wouldn’t let anybody play,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Some swing-and-miss, some walks and some strikeouts. There wasn’t a lot of contact. He was fun to watch. Obviously, he was in it.”

So were the Pirates against an NL Central Division rival, which made the outcome so disappointing. The bullpen blew that lead, with Richard Rodriguez giving up a two-run homer to Kolten Wong and Francisco Liriano a bases-loaded walk to Paul Goldschmidt in the seventh. Colin Moran homered to give the Pirates a 5-4 lead in the eighth, only to see shortstop Erik Gonzalez make an error and closer Felipe Vazquez throw a wild pitch and then surrender a game-tying double in the ninth.

“I think it’s going to be like that all year with the Cardinals,” Archer said. “They’re a good ballclub. They have some nice additions. We’re a good ballclub, too. Our margin for error is small. We can’t make mistakes, whether that be on the offensive side, defensive side, pitching side, whatever. But I anticipate it being like that all year with the Cardinals.”

Pessimists might anticipate it being like that all year for the Pirates, even though they traded for Gonzalez to upgrade their middle-infield defense and their bullpen is supposed to be one of the best in baseball. Blowing a pair of leads in the home opener can be that kind of downer, especially with the Cardinals winning on a passed ball when Kingham threw a fastball that skipped past Cervelli, who was expecting a slider.

“We need to win this kind of game,” Cervelli said. “You have to win. It didn’t happen.”

But if there is promise, it’s that the Pirates anticipate getting more of the kind of starting pitching this season that they have in their first three games from Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams and Archer.

And Archer was electric, even if he wasn’t always efficient. He mixed his slider and fastball to throw 60 of his 99 pitches for strikes, despite walking three and hitting another.

Consider he outdueled Adam Wainwright, who allowed four runs on four hits and four walks in four innings. Consider Archer recorded strikeouts to end the second, third and fifth innings. He deserved better.

“He battled some pitch count, but he’s got that swing-and-miss, unbelievable stuff that kind of got him through,” Taillon said. “He’s got energy that no one else brings. He’s just got that vibe about him. So we were excited to see him feed off the crowd. It’s fun to watch. He’s a little kid out there. He loves the game. He loves competing.”

The Pirates expected as much, with Trevor Williams joking beforehand that the over/under on Archer’s first yell from the mound was at 1.5 batters. The under was the easy play. His backpedal would have been a good prop bet. That Archer was as advertised should give the Pirates and their fans some hope and a reason to come to the ballpark.

It’s a shame the Pirates didn’t protect his lead, that they failed to protect the lead Moran gave them with a second strong home opener. It was deflating that the Pirates outplayed the Cardinals in a game they could have won, a game they should have won.

“It was amazing,” Cervelli said of Archer. “He was throwing strikes, breaking balls when he needed to, fastballs when he needed to. He was good, man. The fact that he has a lot of energy and gave us a chance to win the game, we let him down. But the first impression was good.”

The first impression was certainly better than the ending, but the Pirates have to hope that Archer continues to make more memorable lasting impressions than the one they let slip away in the home opener.

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