PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Game tied at one in the sixth inning, Pirates starter Trevor Cahill reached a predetermined pitch limit. Manager Derek Shelton calls on 21-year-old Luis Oviedo, who had never pitched above A ball before the start of the season against an impressive San Diego lineup.
Oviedo gave up five runs in an inning and a third leading to a 6-2 Padres win.
"He's thrown the ball well," said manager Derek Shelton. "Obviously tonight his breaking balls were not as sharp. We felt like he was the guy. He wasn't sharp at all. The fastball was down in the middle of the plate and the breaking ball wasn't as sharp as it had been previously."
Cahill wasn't one to rip the decision, rather understanding how difficult it is to go from starter his whole life to reliever in the majors.
"When I was a starter and came in from the bullpen the first time I almost had to call the trainer out because my heart was beating so fast," Cahill said. "I was eight, nine years in. What he is going through right now and how he's handling it is pretty impressive."
"Even though I wasn't able to get the results I wanted," Oviedo said through interpreter Mike Gonzalez. "You grow, you learn from those experiences and you keep battling for the next one."
"You continue to attack hitters. Have a mindset and a mentality to go out there and attack. Do everything possible not to get behind in counts."
"The lessons are execution of pitches," Shelton said. "Knowing what pitches he should throw and why he should throw them. The second part is being able to execute."
Yu Darvish allowed only a run and pitched five hitless innings. San Diego right fielder Wil Myers had only hit .182 in his career at PNC Park with 4 RBI. Monday, Myers drove in five with a couple of singles and a home run. Manny Machado scored a couple of runs.
Only a RBI double by right fielder Phillip Evans, now on base in eight straight games and a sacrifice fly by Adam Frazier to the second baseman got the Pirates on the board. Frazier scored on the Evans hit and Wilmer Difo scored on the Frazier SAC after a pinch-hit triple.
Cahill 8 strikeouts
Giving up 7 earned in 4 innings in his first start as a Pirate in Cincinnati, Cahill pitched five innings giving up 3 hits, a run and struck out 8. Dealing with a shortened Spring Training, Cahill pulled after 82 pitches.
"More comfortable out there mixing it up," Cahill said. "Curveball was better, threw a lot more cutters, change-up is still not where I want it to be."
"I thought he did a really nice job mixing and matching," Shelton said. "He executed pitches. We talked about in his previous start that his breaking balls had been short and non-competitive. Tonight he was extremely competitive and did a nice job."
Charity T-shirt
Every home pregame, Shelton wears a T-shirt during the pregame media session promoting a local charity.
Neighborhood Resilience Project-works to create healthy communities throughout the Pittsburgh area, one block at a time. Their vision is to inspire movement to uplift those who are suffering to make positive changes.
Up Next
Pirates face someone they saw in Spring Training when with the Rays, new Padre lefty Blake Snell against Chad Kuhl making his third start of the year. Pirates pregame on the Fan begins at 5:25p with first pitch at 6:35p.
