Buc notes-Chandler’s struggles, costly errors, Valdez returns

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Though we’re still far from October, Tuesday’s pivotal matchup between the Pirates and Diamondbacks had the feeling of postseason baseball. And just like postseason baseball, there was something important on the line for both clubs.

Following Pittsburgh’s comeback victory the night before in the series opener, the Pirates and Diamondbacks sat tied for the third wild card in the National League entering Tuesday night. A win for either side would’ve certainly helped its playoff aspirations.

After struggling to plate runs for most of the contest, the Pirates’ bats finally came alive late and erased a 6-0 deficit to force extra innings. But even with all of the game’s momentum on the Bucs’ side, their come-from-behind effort ultimately fell short in a disappointing 8-7 loss in 12 innings.

“They have a really good bullpen. I thought we did a really good job of continuing to fight, it’s just tough to come up on the losing end of it,” Pirates Manager Don Kelly said.

Chandler closes July on a low

Coming into the contest fresh off back-to-back strong starts that saw him allow just two earned runs across a combined 11 innings, Chandler had the chance to close out what’s been an overall solid month of July on a high note. His performance against the Diamondbacks was anything but.

Geraldo Perdomo, the second batter Chandler faced, stunned him by roping a triple on the first pitch he saw. A sacrifice groundout on the next at-bat got Arizona on the board first shortly after, which marked the first of four earned runs that Chandler went on to give up. A forceout and RBI single in the next inning gave the Diamondbacks a 3-0 cushion to work with by the end of the second. Chandler had already hurled a whopping 47 pitches at that point.

With two runners aboard with one out in the third, Chandler’s rough night continued when Nolan Arenado roped an RBI single to put Arizona up by four. After watching the defense around him let the Diamondbacks plate an unearned run in the fourth, Chandler’s night ended with a final line of 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB and 3 K in 4.0 IP.

“I didn’t think Bubba had terrible stuff, maybe the command wasn’t where it has been in his last few starts. The walks maybe hurt and some balls in play (did too), but he didn’t throw bad,” Kelly said..

Costly Errors

While Chandler was already struggling on the bump, Pittsburgh’s defense only made matters worse with one of its ugliest defensive sequences of the campaign in the fourth inning.

With Ryan Waldschmidt at first, Chandler tried to catch the runner off guard with a quick pickoff attempt, but he misplaced the throw. The miscue gave Waldschmidt all the time he needed to sprint into scoring position.

Somehow, an even more inexcusable error occurred moments later when Perdomo roped a grounder past Brandon Lowe’s glove into shallow right field. This time, the Diamondbacks made the Pirates pay by plating an unearned run.

A Jared Triolo error during the 10th inning also wound up hurting the Pirates, as it allowed the D-backs to temporarily take back the lead.

“Not our cleanest game by any stretch (defensively),” Kelly said.

Valdez returns

Less than 24 hours after he was forced to exit Monday’s game due to a scary injury, Esmerlyn Valdez slotted right back into Don Kelly’s starting lineup and appeared no worse for wear Tuesday. He was given the loudest ovation of any Pittsburgh batter when he stepped up to the plate for the first time. Although he didn’t bring in any runs for Pittsburgh Tuesday, seeing him step up to the plate at all was still a welcome sight for this Pirates team.

Minors Results

• Triple-A Indianapolis rallied from down 4-2 at the top of the ninth to steal a 5-4 win from Louisville. Enmanuel Valdez led the comeback effort with two RBI.
• Double-A Altoona suffered a 12-3 blowout loss to Chesapeake.
• High-A Greensboro fell 9-7 in a back-and-forth battle with Bowling Green.
• Single-A Bradenton suffered an 11-3 blowout loss to Daytona.

Up Next

The series finale and last home game in July for the Pirates will see RHP Jared Jones (2-1, 3.72 ERA) match up against Arizona LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-3, 2.64 ERA). Jones comes into the contest after turning in one of his best performances of the season last Friday against the Cubs, as he gave up just two hits, one earned run and threw five strikeouts through 6.0 innings of work. Paul Alexander has the North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show at 11:40 with first pitch set for 12:35pm on 100.1 FM and AM 1020, KDKA..