PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Just a sloppy game for the Pirates, committing three errors, five walks, five wild pitches and a series loss to Arizona. Diamondbacks get five runs off the Bucco bullpen for an 8-3 victory Sunday afternoon.
“We didn’t play well defensively today,” said Pirates Manager Derek Shelton. “We made a couple of careless errors that cost us a run (Ke’Bryan Hayes, Dauri Moreta). We’ve got to a better job of just catching the ball.”
Shelton said even a couple of the wild pitches that should have been blocked by catcher Jason Delay. Adding they can’t play like that and expect to win games.
Starter Roansy Contreras gave up three runs in five innings walking three and striking out three. All of the five Pirates pitchers gave up at least a run.
“The fastball command was erratic again,” Shelton said of Contreras. “We’ve got to get the fastball back on the plate. When you are not throwing the fastball where you want to it’s (also) hard to catch.”
“Trust it and just continue to work on the stuff I’ve been working on,” Contreras said, admitting he needs to be better with his fastball command. “Things have helped me before, just emphasize them.”
Pirates offense managed just three hits, Tucupita Marcano had the only Bucs RBIs with a two-run double in the fifth inning.
“I think he’s having better swings,” Shelton said. “He’s a kid that’s getting more comfortable. He’s done a nice job at short. He continues to do get offensively. He’s a guy you can do a lot with because he handles the bat really well. His swing is starting to be a lot smoother than we saw in the past.”
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