PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) - The Pirates looked to sweep the Houston Astros in the final game of a six game road trip, but three massive errors by Oneil Cruz cost them the opportunity at a sweep.
The Pirates opened up a 4-0 lead with a four run inning in the top of the second. Joey Bart mashed a two-run home run onto the train tracks at Minute Maid Park to make it 2-0. Jared Triolo added another with a double and Andrew McCutchen brought home another with an RBI single.
Jake Woodford made his Pirates debut and pitched five innings and only allowed two hits, but was charged with three unearned runs.
"He did a nice job, honestly first time seeing him, didn't really know what we were going to get out of him. For him to give us five innings after not having pitched for as long as he did, really maintained their lineup, shouldn't have given up any runs. Did a really good job, got us through five, he got us to the part of the lineup where we wanted to use Jalen. Overall I thought he was really good," said manager Derek Shelton.
A day to forget for Oneil Cruz
In the bottom of the second inning, Jeremy Peña hit a routine groundball to Cruz and his throw was offline, allowing Peña to go to second base as the ball went out of play. Woodford would retire the next two hitters, with Peña getting to third base on a groundout to advance him. Woodford threw a wild pitch to the backstop that allowed Peña to score.
With two outs and a runner on in the bottom of the sixth inning, Yordan Álvarez hit a pop up to left field that Bryan Reynolds would have caught easily. Cruz ran to left field and called off Reynolds, and the ball dropped and hit Reynolds in the leg. Houston scored a run from that error. Cruz then threw the ball home and it was way off target, allowing Álvarez to go to third.
"It looked like he was trying to go a bit too fast today and you know sometimes that happens with young players and he was trying to create a little bit too much," said Shelton.
Yainer Diaz ripped a double to center field to make it one run game.
Cruz went 0-4 with the bat with three strikeouts in the loss.
Astros erase 4-0 deficit
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Jalen Beeks retired two of the three hitters he faced, bringing Jon Singleton to the plate. Houston pinch hit Mauricio Dubón to get a right handed bat against the lefty Beeks. Shelton brought in Colin Holderman from the bullpen. Dubón hit a 97 mph fastball into the left field seats to give Houston a 5-4 lead.
In the top of the ninth, Josh Hader slammed the door on the Pirates bats to end the game.
"It's a frustrating game, this is a game we could have won and we let it slip away because we didn't play well. We gotta get through the off day, bounce back and get after Arizona," said Shelton.
Massive games ahead
The Pirates sit 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. They will have to turn the page on this one and look ahead to their homestand against two red hot teams in the NL West, the Diamondbacks and Padres. They host Arizona Friday night when Luis Ortiz will take the mound. Our coverage on the Fan begins at 5:40 with the North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show presented by Pella Windows.