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Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

One big inning isn't enough to disguise offensive inadequacies

Originally posted on DK Pittsburgh Sports | Last updated 5/8/24

Four runs on one mighty swing of the bat from Edward Olivares were all the Pirates needed to capture a three-run victory in their series opener Monday night against the visiting Angels. Two days later, another four-run inning appeared as if it could once again change the complexion of a game. But just when the Pirates shifted the momentum in their favor, it was gone in an instant.

Hours before announcing that Paul Skenes would make his major-league debut this weekend, the Pirates saw a newly established two-run lead disappear in the sixth inning and they couldn't muster anything to answer back in a 5-4 loss that secured a series defeat to the Angels at PNC Park Wednesday afternoon. It marked their second defeat in 16 instances in which they've scored four or more runs this season. They're a dreadful 3-19 when scoring fewer.

"The big inning's nice. We got the big hit, which we haven't gotten lately," Derek Shelton said. "But we have to be better than that. We have to create more opportunities."

The Pirates had three hits within the first two innings, but the bats soon went silent as nine straight batters were retired. Facing a 2-0 deficit after a third-inning solo homer and a fifth-inning RBI single by Jo Adell, the Pirates' offense was reignited via a one-out double by Joey Bart and two-out walks to Andrew McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds that loaded the bases. Oneil Cruz then delivered the team's biggest hit of the day by driving a 1-1 splitter from Jose Soriano onto the warning track in right-center field for a bases-clearing double and a 3-2 lead:

Oneil Cruz's bases-clearing double puts the @Pirates in front! pic.twitter.com/W0qRbntJ4i
— MLB (@MLB) May 8, 2024

“It felt good," Cruz said via interpreter and major-league coach Stephen Morales. "I went out there really aggressive, just trying to do what happened. Trying to give our team the lead and that’s what I did.”

Cruz has continued to be one of a few bright spots in a Pirates offense that continues to attempt to find its way. After early-season struggles that saw him hitting .209 on April 21, Cruz is slashing .327/.365/.510 with two home runs and nine RBIs over his last 15 games. His season batting average is now up to .252, an encouraging sign for a key player in the lineup.

"(It's a) product of a lot of work lately and feeling a lot better now," Cruz said. "Curveballs off the machine and focus on the strike zone more.”

Connor Joe, another player who has managed to contribute despite the collective woes at the plate, matched Cruz with a two-hit performance and followed his clutch extra-base hit by going opposite field for an RBI single that stretched the Pirates' lead to 4-2. That, however, was the last hit they could muster. After an inning that featured half of the team's six hits while leading to the exit of a struggling Soriano, the Pirates posed zero threat at the plate with 13 straight batters being retired by Angels relievers Adam Cimber, Matt Moore, Luis Garcia and Carlos Estevez. Seven hitters went down on strikes during that span.

"We have to create our own opportunities. We created the opportunity in the fifth, (Cruz) got the big hit, then Connor backed it up, but after that, we didn't get anything going," Shelton said. "Their bullpen did a good job. The guys that pitched at the end of the game for them -- Matt Moore's been doing it for a long time and Garcia's got good stuff. We just have to have better at-bats late in the game."

Martin Perez allowed two runs through his first five innings of work before finally benefitting from some run support in the aforementioned fifth. He went back out in the sixth with a two-run cushion, but allowed back-to-back singles to Taylor Ward and Kevin Pillar to prompt a Shelton trip to the mound. Luis Ortiz entered in relief and surrendered two more hits on an RBI single by Logan O'Hoppe and a run-scoring double by Brandon Drury. The latter tied the game before a sacrifice fly by Willie Calhoun plated the eventual game-winning run.

Perez allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out five while throwing 52 of 73 pitches for strikes. Ortiz was charged with an earned run in an inning of work before Aroldis Chapman, Colin Holderman and Hunter Stratton combined to toss three scoreless innings.

"With the exception of really the one inning, I thought we threw the ball pretty well," Shelton said. "Unfortunately, the one inning was the inning that ended up being the difference in the game."