Bell’s blast not enough in loss to Rox

PITTSBURGH -- On Saturday, the Pirates pulled off a patchwork bullpen game to beat the Padres. The same plan unraveled quickly in a 9-3 loss to the Rockies on Wednesday night at PNC Park.

Right-handed opener Montana DuRapau didn’t finish the first inning after giving up a three-run homer to Daniel Murphy. Nick Kingham recorded 12 outs as the bulk-innings pitcher, but he couldn’t contain Colorado’s lineup and allowed six runs on nine hits and four walks.

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No matter how far Josh Bell's second-inning homer traveled, or how hard it shot off his bat toward the Allegheny River, the Pirates couldn’t scratch together enough offense to overcome their early deficit. Rockies starter Jon Gray held the Bucs to seven hits and struck out seven in seven innings.

“We had to ride a couple guys, let them throw a bunch of pitches and give up some runs,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “It’s not the way you draw it up. However, that’s the life we’re living right now. We’ve got to look to play more consistent.”

DuRapau, who worked two scoreless innings in his first start on Saturday, encountered trouble after striking out leadoff man Charlie Blackmon. Trevor Story hit a single to center, then DuRapau walked Raimel Tapia. DuRapau retired Nolan Arenado, inching an out away from escaping the inning unscathed, but Murphy launched a 2-1 fastball over the wall in right-center field.

“You’re close, but it’s the big leagues. You’ve got to finish things off, and we weren’t able to finish it off,” Hurdle said. “You’re a couple pitches away. He was able to make them in San Diego, didn’t make them here. You pay the price.”

Ideally, DuRapau would have worked an inning or more before turning it over to Kingham against the bottom of the order. Instead, Kingham found himself on the mound with two outs in the first. He finished the inning and put together a scoreless second, and the Bucs battled back to pull within a run thanks to Bell’s towering home run and an RBI double by Kevin Newman.

Kingham couldn’t hold the line, however. After a pair of infield singles, Colorado catcher Tony Wolters ripped a three-run shot -- his first home run of the season -- out to right field. Kingham said he executed the pitch -- a fastball up and in -- and called it “just a really good piece of hitting” by Wolters.

“Overall, I feel good about where I’m at,” Kingham said. “A couple infield hits that didn’t leave the infield, then a home run to capitalize on top of it. Overall, I still feel like I threw the ball better than what the scoreboard says.”

Kingham gave up three more runs on four hits and a walk in the fifth before he was relieved by Clay Holmes, who struck out four and allowed three hits over 3 1/3 innings. Kingham said he has been working on a few mechanical changes that seemed to take hold early in his outing, but he acknowledged that he may have fallen into some bad habits toward the end.

Kingham, who is out of Minor League options, has allowed 24 runs in 24 2/3 innings this season. In his last three appearances, two starts and Wednesday’s bulk-innings outing, he has given up 15 runs on 22 hits, including three homers, and eight walks in 12 innings. He has thrown 181 pitches over his last two appearances and induced only 10 swinging strikes, two fewer than he registered in four innings on May 8.

“We’ll do some video work with him tomorrow and show him some things. The pitch efficiency still continues to be challenging,” Hurdle said. “The overall command, there’s work to be done. We’ve seen better. We haven’t seen as good lately. It’s been a while.”

The Pirates decided to use the opener strategy to see if they could get more out of Kingham and left-hander Steven Brault, who struggled when they moved out of the bullpen and into the injury-depleted rotation. They pieced it together on Saturday, when Brault followed DuRapau then handed the game over to the rest of the bullpen in a 7-2 victory over the Padres.

The Bucs couldn’t make it work on Wednesday, which will only create further questions as they move forward without top starters Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams.

The Pirates have not set their rotation for this weekend’s series against the Dodgers at PNC Park. Hurdle said that he would announce their plans on Thursday. Regardless of how they deploy Joe Musgrove and Chris Archer, who are both lined up to start this weekend, they will need someone to start one game against Los Angeles and two pitchers to handle Monday’s doubleheader in Cincinnati.

Their immediate concern is getting a strong start from veteran Jordan Lyles on Thursday afternoon -- no patchwork necessary.

“We have an opportunity tomorrow. Lyles is on the mound,” Hurdle said. “We’ve got the guys in the bullpen that we need with a lead. We had to weather a storm today.”