PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s now six straight losses and six straight games where the Pirates scored three runs or less. To put it another way, they scored as many runs in their last win 9-2 in Philadelphia than they have in the last week.
“It was a sloppy game,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton about Sunday’s 6-1 loss to the Red Sox. “We didn’t play well. You can point out multiple things that we need to clean up. In certain situations, guys are trying to do a little too much. In certain situations, we just played sloppy.”
Part of that sloppiness was starter Martin Perez. Shelton said it’s the first time since his signed with the Pirates, Spring Training included, that he never got comfortable on the mound walking four and hitting a batter in giving up four runs. A World Series champ with Texas last year, Perez blamed himself for missing his spots and said he’s noticing a bad trend with this team.
“We have to play the game,” Perez said. “It’s already tough. We’re making it tougher. I think we have to change our body language a little bit and enjoy the game. We’re putting too much pressure on. We’re not getting the results that we’re looking for. We have to come in tomorrow, go out there and enjoy it and try to play better.”
"Maybe not aggressive enough,” said outfielder Bryan Reynolds. “Maybe a little passive, not capitalizing on runners in scoring position. Just the things that lead to winning really."
Here is a list of some bad mistakes just from Sunday’s game
"I think everything in the game is magnified when we're in a skid like this,” said Pirates INF/OF Connor Joe. “Whether it's a pitch, whether it's an at-bat or something that happens in the field.”
Dropping to 11-11 and with the first division game against the first-place Brewers at PNC Park on Monday, how do the Pirates get out of this six-game slide?
“Trust your stuff, man,” Perez said. “You’re here for a reason, because you can help this team win games. I know everybody knows. (Monday) I’m gonna come with my best energy, trying to pass that energy to my teammates. At the end of the night, we can get a win.”
"Just looking at the calendar and seeing we have 140 more,” Reynolds said. “Getting in the cage, working on our swings, doing early defense, and just continuing to go."
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Up Next
The first division game of the season as the Brewers open a four-game series at PNC Park Monday at 6:45. Jared Jones (1-2, 3.13 ERA) against RHIP Joe Ross (1-1, 4.91 ERA). Dan Zangrilli hosts the North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show presented by Pella Windows at 5:45p