Lyles labors over three as Bucs drop series

MILWAUKEE -- Two weeks after the Pirates scrapped the “opener” plan, their traditional starters are having a tough time getting deep into games.

The story on Saturday afternoon at Miller Park was not all that different than it was on Friday night, even if the score was closer. Right-hander Jordan Lyles exited after three inefficient innings, putting a strain on the bullpen in the Pirates’ 5-3 loss to the Brewers.

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“Efficient -- you can’t use that word in that outing,” Lyles said.

Lyles needed 92 pitches to record nine outs. As a team, Pittsburgh threw 208 pitches and walked nine in eight innings. It was the sixth time in the Pirates’ last 12 games that their starting pitcher recorded 12 outs or fewer. They lost all six of those games.

It was the 20th time in 63 games this season that Pittsburgh’s starter has worked four innings or fewer, although three of those were by design with the opener plan in place. The Bucs have only won four games in which their starter/opener doesn’t record an out in the fifth inning. They are 9-23 on the year when their starter covers less than six innings.

“You’ve got to figure it out. We’ve been able to figure it out,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “You hope that collateral damage doesn’t come from it down the road.”

Lyles’ time on the mound was a grind. Facing his former team for the second time in a week, the veteran righty threw 26 pitches in the first inning, 39 in the second and 27 in the third. Milwaukee made him work by fouling off 20 of his 92 pitches. He faced 18 batters, and nine of them ran up a three-ball count.

“Just not ideal. Three innings, that’s embarrassing,” Lyles said. “I’m going to try to figure a way to get out of this couple outings that I’ve had and get back to how we started the season and try to get there quickly.”

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The Brewers did most of their damage against Lyles in a long second inning, negating the advantage that Colin Moran gave the Pirates with a two-run homer against Milwaukee starter Zach Davies.

It was Moran’s ninth home run of the season, two shy of his 2018 total. Moran has homered in three of his last four games, and five of his homers have come in his last 10 games. He has gone deep seven times in the last month.

“He’s working, and he’s trying to hunt what he likes to hit and not miss it,” Hurdle said.

That may sound simple, but simplicity might be the key to Moran’s recent success. Previously caught up in the mechanics of his swing, the 26-year-old infielder is now focused more on his approach at the plate. He’s also benefiting from consistent playing time.

“I kind of scrapped thinking so much mechanics, which has helped,” Moran said. “Just trying to get back to an approach, more of looking for what I want to hit. That would describe it, for sure, what I’m trying to do.”

Moran’s homer gave the Pirates a short-lived lead, however. Travis Shaw walked with one out in the second and scored on a double by Orlando Arcia. With Moran off third base, Arcia swiped third and scored on a single by Lorenzo Cain. Mike Moustakas was responsible for the other run Lyles allowed, as he launched an inside fastball to right field for a leadoff homer in the third inning.

“We made a decent pitch right there,” Lyles said. “Mike, being the good hitter that he is, as strong as he is, was able to put it in the seats in right field.”

Lyles took an awkward hop off the mound after striking out Arcia in the third inning, which earned him a visit from head athletic trainer Bryan Housand, but finished the inning with a strikeout of Davies. Lyles marched into the dugout and did not return, but he said afterward that he is “good to go” physically.

After recording a 1.97 ERA in his first eight starts of the season, Lyles has put together a 7.71 ERA over his past four outings. His early exit forced reliever Michael Feliz, who was recalled from Triple-A on Saturday morning, into action in the fourth inning. Feliz walked Cain, the first hitter he faced, and Cain came around to score the go-ahead run on a single by Ryan Braun.

Unlike Friday’s lopsided loss, this one stayed close until the end. Feliz, Richard Rodriguez and Francisco Liriano kept Milwaukee off the board for three innings before pinch-hitter Manny Pina hit a solo homer off Liriano in the eighth.

“At the end of the day, we’re still in the game,” Hurdle said. “We left 13 of their men on base, which kept us in the hunt. That was a lot of work we had to do off the mound to keep them at five.”