93.7 The Fan (PITTSBURGH) - After a postponed game on Friday night, the Bucs handled their business against the Guardians in game one of the doubleheader but game two it was another bullpen implosion.
Game 1
Coming off a 6 inning 8 strikeout no hitter against the Braves on July 8th, Jared Jones followed up with a brilliant outing in game 1 of the doubleheader. Jones pitched 5 innings and allowed 1 run on 3 hits. He punched out 9 batters and was in full control. Jones in his last three starts has gone 15 innings, 2 earned runs and 23 strikeouts.
"I just feel the ball more. I felt like haven't thrown a baseball in games for more than 12 months, coming back was a little bit shaky, had a little extra nerves going there that I haven't felt before," said Jones after the game. "Felt like I'm able to get in my groove a little bit easier now."
Jones wasn't the only story in the Bucs 7-1 win. Newly acquired Bucco Jacob Gonzalez made his first start with the team and hit a 2-run home run in the top of the 2nd inning. He went 2/4 on the day.
"Big hit. To put us up 2 zip against Williams who is a really good pitcher. To jump out to a 2-0 lead and the one play he made was really good too, to come in and charge that ball, be able to short hop it and make the play. I thought he had a great game," said Don Kelly.
The Bucs bats put up 11 hits in the win. Esmerlyn Valdez hit his 11th home run of the season with a two-run blast in the top of the 6th inning. Nick Gonzales made it 5-1 Pirates in the 6th with a solo shot.
"I thought that our approach was really good today. When you talk about Gonzo going to the right of center, Valdez has that kind of power going oppo, Henry Davis I thought had two great swings. I thought we ran the bases extremely well today," said Kelly.
Game 2
The Pirates pitched 7 scoreless innings in a bullpen game but then saw a 3-0 lead disappear in the bottom of the 8th inning and then got walked off in the 9th.
Down 3-0 Cleveland got on the board in the bottom of the 8th inning. Steven Kwan and Bryan Rocchio singled with one out to put runners on first and second. Chase DeLauter hit a ground ball inbetween Ryan O'Hearn and Brandon Lowe and it snuck through into right field to cut the Bucs lead to 3-1. Gregory Soto entered the game with runners on the corners. He threw a wild pitch to the backstop to bring home one and gave up a game tying single to Kahlil Watson.
In the bottom of the 9th Dennis Santana came into the game and continued his struggles. Cleveland sent Patrick Bailey on a ball hit to the left field wall from first to home but he was thrown out at the plate. What looked like a costly mistake by the Guardians quickly turned into nothing. Santana served up a two-run walkoff home run to Travis Bazzana.
"Tough ending. To be up late and not come away with the win, it's a tough ending," said Kelly.
Santana now sits at 2-5 with a 6.20 ERA. Soto has had troubles lately with a 9.26 ERA in his last 12 games leading up to the game tonight.
"We're trying to make any adjustments we can. They were good they found a way at home against the Brewers to come out in that doubleheader but we just got to keep working with them and finding a way," said Kelly.
Impressive debut for Khristian Curtis
Khristian Curtis came into the game in the bottom of the 2nd inning and absolutely shut down the Guardians offense. Curtis pitched 5 scoreless innings, giving up just 2 hits and no runs. He struck out 4 and walked 2. It's the longest scoreless relief outing by a Pirate in an MLB debut since Steve Blass tossed five scoreless innings on May 10, 1964 vs the Brewers.
"He mixed it up. I thought he did a really good job at pitching and getting back throwing strikes. The cutter looked really good. I think the most impressive thing was the way he attacked the zone," said Kelly.
