Bucs' bats go ice cold at Coors Field

As Ka’ai Tom stepped up to the plate in the top of the ninth inning of Pittsburgh’s 8-0 loss at Coors Field on Tuesday, with the Pirates just three outs away from being on the wrong end of a no-hitter, he thought to himself: “Don’t worry about the moment.”

“Just don't worry about the moment,” Tom recalled. “Just go up there and continue to be aggressive and just understand, just really hone into your approach. And just think up the middle and don't be so hesitant.

“Just go up there and just keep swinging.”

Facing the Rockies’ ace, Germán Márquez, who, to that point, had no-hit the Pirates through eight innings, Tom swung and missed at a first-pitch knuckle-curve.

“He got me right there,” Tom said. “And next pitch, I just kind of flushed it out and [was] like, ‘All right, let's go. Let's go.’”

Márquez went back to the same pitch up 0-1, and Tom lifted it over the head of second baseman Garrett Hampson and into right field for a leadoff single.

No-hitter averted.

“We had a few hard hits tonight that just didn't go our way and I'm happy that I came through right there,” Tom added.

It was the only hit for the Pirates in the loss as Márquez wrapped up his complete game having struck out five batters and allowing just two baserunners prior to Tom’s hit, on a walk and a hit-by-pitch.

The Pirates avoided being on the opposite end of history once more, having previously been no-hit through 7 1/3 innings on April 23 against the Twins and J.A. Happ. Tom’s single prevented what would have been the 14th no-hitter thrown against the Bucs in team history, and the first since Lucas Giolito no-hit Pittsburgh on Aug. 25, 2020.

“I think there’s a sense of relief at any point when you're being no-hit that you get your first hit,” manager Derek Shelton said. “So yeah, there's a sense of relief in that regard.”

Tuesday’s result stood in stark contrast to Sunday’s series win against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, a game in which Max Kranick tossed five perfect innings in his MLB debut and reliever Duane Underwood Jr. carried the first potential combined perfect game in Major League history into the seventh.

“The other day, Max threw really well. And today, Márquez threw the ball really well,” Shelton added. “It's one of those things when you come to the ballpark; the guy on the mound can really dictate what goes on. And tonight, he had really good stuff.”

Colorado jumped out to an early lead against Chase De Jong, tagging the Pirates’ starter for five earned runs in five innings of work, including an RBI double in the second to open the scoring and a three-run fifth-inning, which was highlighted by a Márquez double.

“This is my first outing here,” De Jong said. “Mistake pitches are going to happen here. It's just a matter of limiting them. … They came out swinging, so we tried to throw expansion pitches right away.”

Neither De Jong nor Cody Ponce, who pitched three innings in relief, allowed a walk, and the two combined for seven strikeouts in the outing.

“Obviously, we made them earn everything they got tonight," De Jong said. "[We] didn't walk anybody, and they got hits and you got to just tip your cap to that. I thought we made a lot of good pitches and went right after them.”

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The hit to break up the no-hitter came at an especially trying time for Tom. Entering Tuesday’s contest, Tom had a .131 batting average on the year, with just two hits in the month of June.

“Sometimes when things are not going your way, you can really dig a deeper hole when you just continue to be either too aggressive or too defensive,” Tom said. “And you just have to find a balance in between that, and just got to go out there and just put good at-bats together and those things will add up.”

Tom worked with the Pirates’ hitting coaches and extensively with the velo machine to sync his body and bat together in search of those elusive hits.

“Getting hits is always a pretty cool feeling,” Tom added. “We work countless repetitions just for four opportunities in a game, and all we want to do is just put great at-bats together and just pass the baton to the next guy behind us.

“I know we'll just get right back to it and tomorrow's going to be a great day. Just hitting the ball hard today -- even my first at-bat when I was able to take that up and away pitch to left field -- you know, those things are pretty positive.”