Pérez struggles as Bucs' shots at win streaks keep falling short

MILWAUKEE -- The Pirates had a chance to do something they hadn’t done in over two months Wednesday night at American Family Field. They fell well short, as Martín Pérez was roughed up, Brewers starter Tobias Myers spun an eight-inning gem and the Pirates ended up losing, 9-0.

What were they trying to do Wednesday that they couldn’t achieve? Push their winning streak to three games.

Wednesday’s loss ensured that the Pirates once again will not win or lose three games in a row. The last time they had a streak of at least three came during a three-game skid from May 7-10. They haven’t stacked three wins in a row since May 4-6.

Since those streaks in early May, they’ve gone 53 straight games without winning or losing more than two in a row. According to OptaSTATS, that is the longest single-season streak in baseball history (the Braves had a 55-game streak that spanned the final three games of the 2021 season to the first 52 games of the 2022 campaign).

“We have to gain momentum,” manager Derek Shelton said. “We have to have streaks like that. We just haven’t been able to get that going.”

While it’s impossible to win without scoring a run -- and the Pirates could only muster five baserunners against Myers -- Pérez was roughed up again in Milwaukee. After allowing a season-high nine runs to the Brewers on May 15, he was tagged for five runs on nine hits over 4 2/3 innings Wednesday.

His troubles started in the first when Christian Yelich was able to beat him to the bag on a slow grounder to first base. Willy Adames would bring him home with a two-out, two-strike double on the low, outside corner and then come home on a Sal Frelick base hit, setting off what would be the second most hits Pérez has allowed in a game this season, behind only that previous start to the Brewers.

“He didn’t get on the edges,” Shelton said. “I think he missed too much in the middle of the plate. … He didn’t have a ton of hard contact. He just didn’t get on the edges or the corners the way he did the last time out.”

Pérez’s first half with the Pirates definitely yielded some mixed results. For the first month of the year, his sinker-cutter-changeup combo played well and he generated a lot of soft contact and quick outs, finishing April with a sub-3.00 ERA. He’s now allowed at least five runs in three of his past six starts, ballooning his season ERA to 5.15.

Some of that could be attributed to bad batted-ball luck, as he allowed only five hard-hit balls on the 17 the Brewers put in play against him Wednesday. But for someone who doesn’t generate a lot of whiffs, including just two on 42 swings during this outing, Pérez is going to need to live on those edges more to be successful, as Shelton alluded to.

“I’m strong mentally,” Pérez said. “I know it’s a tough game, but I’m going to keep doing my thing. I’m going to keep preparing myself for the second half and help the team a little bit more.”

The thing is, even though the Pirates have not been able to gain the momentum of an extended winning streak since the first two weeks of the season, they still have a chance to close out the first half of the year on a good note. Paul Skenes will pitch Thursday, and then they have a three-game set in Chicago against the last-place White Sox. If they manage to win out, they would go into the All-Star break with a .500 record. Even two or three wins keeps them in the National League’s playoff conversation going into the second half.

But they’re going to need to build a win streak again. Getting solid contributions from the entire rotation plays into that, including the slumping Pérez, who vows things are going to be better come the other side of the break.

“I’ll be ready for my next one,” Pérez said. “One hundred percent.”