Chapman, Bucs bit by poor execution: 'We'll learn from that'

PITTSBURGH -- Aroldis Chapman had come in with three straight fastballs to his old Yankees battery mate Gary Sánchez to get ahead 0-2, so the Brewers’ hitter knew he needed to make an adjustment. He knows Chapman has serious heat, so he got to his load quicker and prepared for another fastball.

He guessed right and got a hold of a 101.9 mph sinker that was left up and sailed over PNC Park’s right-field wall for a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning.

“To be honest, I kind of surprised myself when I made contact there,” said Sánchez, via interpreter and assistant coach Daniel de Mondesert. “It was a good pitch. I was just happy I made it to it.”

“I think I threw too many fastballs there,” said Chapman, via interpreter and assistant coach Stephen Morales. “I should throw some breaking stuff. Next time, I'll try to mix it up a little bit, but it happened. We'll learn from that."

Sánchez’s home run was the deciding blow in the Brewers’ 7-5 win over the Pirates Thursday afternoon, but it was far from the Pirates’ only miscue of the day. Mitch Keller did not have his usual command and allowed four runs over five frames. Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski both couldn't secure Rhys Hoskins line drives on diving attempts, each of which resulted in an RBI. In the seventh, Rowdy Tellez did not touch first base on a throw across the diamond by Jared Triolo, resulting in a two-out infield single to keep the rally going.

After snapping a six-game losing streak Monday, the Pirates had a chance to make an early season statement with a series win against the first place team in the National League Central. Instead, they had to settle for a series split.

“It sucks,” said Keller. “Had an opportunity to win three out of four. Splitting the series is still good but just leaving wins out there is just not good. Everybody in this room is at fault for it. Just gotta be better.”

Many of those issues have been problematic for most of this young season. Chapman has had control issues the past few weeks, allowing eight runs (six of them earned) with nine walks over his last six outings, totaling 3 2/3 innings. While he didn’t walk a hitter Thursday, he did airmail a four-seam fastball for a wild pitch earlier in the frame.

Suwinski and Reynolds’ plays would have had to have been diving grabs, but Suwinski’s ball had a 65 percent catch probability and Reynolds’ a 90 percent chance. Suwinski couldn’t survive his collision with the ground, and Reynolds didn’t seem to get a great read off the bat.

“Both of those would have been really good plays,” said manager Derek Shelton.

After signing Michael A. Taylor this spring, the hope was that the outfield defense could be a strength. Instead, entering play Thursday, Pirates outfielders rank last in baseball with -8 outs above average.

"I think the early growing pains were the fact that we did have three center fielders out there,” Shelton said pregame Wednesday. “They were all used to going after the ball and it's something we had to basically clean up a little bit and tell them like, 'OK, Michael's the center fielder now, if he goes, let him go.'”

The Reynolds play likely would not have resulted in a run had Tellez thrown out William Contreras in the third. Tellez cut off a throw from Reynolds and appeared to have Contreras caught between second and third, but after a pause, Contreras was able to beat the relay into third. Hoskins singled home Contreras the next at-bat.

“He hesitated too long,” Shelton said. “He should have delivered the ball.”

At the end of the day, it is still a series split and the Pirates are .500 one month into the season. There are worse ways to start a season. But as they often said during their early series wins, it’s always good to bank those early wins. They let a winnable game and series slip away Thursday.